President Trump on Monday night warned Iran of a counterattack “1,000 times greater in magnitude” after reports the Iranian government may have hatched an assassination plot against a US ambassador to avenge the killing of Qassem Soleimani.
“According to press reports, Iran may be planning an assassination, or other attack, against the United States in retaliation for the killing of terrorist leader Soleimani, which was carried out for his planning a future attack, murdering U.S. Troops, and the death & suffering caused over so many years,” Trump tweeted.
“Any attack by Iran, in any form, against the United States will be met with an attack on Iran that will be 1,000 times greater in magnitude!” the president wrote.
Politico reported on Sunday, citing two unnamed government officials, the existence of intelligence reports about an Iranian plot to assassinate Lana Marks, the US ambassador to South Africa.
The plot is seen as a possible effort by Iran to retaliate against the Trump administration for the killing of Soleimani, a former top general, in a US drone strike in January.
Days after Soleimani’s death, Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting two bases housing US forces in Iraq, causing traumatic brain injuries to dozens of American troops.