Book reveals new aspects of Iran’s plan to assassinate Trump - Axios
Iran's threat to assassinate US President Donald Trump during the 2024 election campaign was more severe than publicly known, according to a new book.
Iran's threat to assassinate US President Donald Trump during the 2024 election campaign was more severe than publicly known, according to a new book.
Extraordinary precautions, including the use of a decoy plane, were implemented by Trump’s team to counter the threat, according to a forthcoming book, Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power written by Alex Isenstadt.
“Law enforcement officials warned Trump last year that Tehran had placed operatives in the US with access to surface-to-air missiles,” the author said in an interview with Axios.
“The concern intensified after a foiled assassination attempt of Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Sept. 15.”
Isenstadt said he was given extensive access to Trump's inner circle during his campaign.
Though Iran was not conclusively linked to the events, they heightened fears of an attack on Trump Force One, his personal jet, according to the book.
On one occasion, Trump traveled aboard a plane owned by real estate executive Steve Witkoff while his staff flew on Trump Force One. Many aides only learned of the switch just before takeoff, leading to what campaign insiders dubbed the Ghost Flight.
According to the book, set for release on March 18, the Secret Service also organized decoy motorcades and took steps like disabling a drone suspected of following Trump’s motorcade in Pennsylvania.
Campaign insiders noted that Trump grew more cautious about public events and spoke less frequently about ordering the 2020 airstrike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.
Soleimani led the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force and Iran's influence and military allies in the Middle East.
Since then, US authorities have tracked several threats against Trump and former officials linked to Soleimani's assassination.
"If they did that, they would be obliterated," Trump said recently. "That would be the end. I've left instructions - if they do it, they get obliterated. There won't be anything left."
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei reacted to Trump's remarks saying, “Tehran reserves its right to pursue a legal process for achieving justice regarding the killing of national champions and senior officials to achieve results in domestic and international courts.”
Gholamreza Nouri Qeziljeh, Iran’s Minister of Agriculture, attributed some of the price increases to sanctions, which targeted the country's kiwi crop.
However, he acknowledged that the same kiwis are being exported this year, and this has further inflated their cost on the domestic market.
"We need to examine how to reform this process," he said, suggesting that the government may need to take action to prevent further price surges.
Kiwis are now being sold for up to 2,400,000 rials ($2.7) per kilogram, a price that eats up nearly two percent of the average monthly salary.
Tasnim News, a media outlet linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, reported on Saturday that, based on field observations, kiwi prices in Tehran range from $1 to $2.7 per kilogram.
Prior to the increase, the ILNA news agency warned that the purchasing power of Iranian workers has plummeted by a quarter this year, compared to the last decade.
The kiwi price hikes come on the heels of similar price increases for potatoes. Reports indicate that potatoes in Iran have risen to 900,000 rials per kilogram (around $1), spurred in part by extensive exports.
Mehrdad Lahoti, a member of the Iranian parliament, said that while Iran once exported over one million tons of potatoes, poor management has now led to rotting stockpiles in warehouses. "Iran has become an importer of this product," Lahoti said.
To stabilize soaring potato prices, Iran is importing 50,000 tons of the staple vegetable, according to deputy agricultural minister Akbar Fat’hi.
Further complicating the issue, a review of customs data reveals that Iran exported 307,000 tons of potatoes in the first nine months of the year at a price of just 140,000 rials (15 cents) per kilogram, with much of it going to Iraq and Afghanistan.
In neighboring Iraq, Iranian agricultural exports are also causing economic strain. Iraqi tomato farmers in Basra have been dealing with price crashes due to the influx of cheaper Iranian tomatoes, which often flood the local markets.
According to Al Jazeera, farmers in Basra struggle to cover their production costs as tomatoes imported from Iran undercut local prices.
Back in Iran, political leaders are offering mixed explanations for the rising prices. President Masoud Pezeshkian argued that external sanctions are driving up costs.
"The enemies think that if they siege us, we will die from hunger," he said on Saturday.
Morteza Fazaeli, a member of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office, said on Saturday that domestic mismanagement is a key factor in the country’s economic woes.
With food prices continuing to rise and the purchasing power of citizens steadily declining, many Iranians are increasingly confronted with a difficult economic reality as the rial loses value by the hour, now being exchanged at 900,000 per dollar.
