Following the NATO summit in Turkey, US was warned by a Western intelligence agency that Iran was plotting to kill Donald Trump in Turkey.
According to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12, senior Iranian officials saw Trump’s visit to Ankara, Turkey’s capital, as an opportunity to take out the US president.
But US authorities were warned of the plot in advance, prompting a last-minute switch of his aircraft from his new Air Force One plane to an older model.
The New York Times reported last week that one of the main reasons for the switch was because the Secret Service was concerned the new aircraft, donated by the Qataris, did not have all the necessary features of the old plane.
Reporters were told to keep window shades closed in the press cabin during take-off, without explanation.
It came as Trump alluded to previous alleged assassination attempts by Iran during a press conference on Wednesday.
The President declared at the NATO summit in Turkey: ‘They [Iran] want to take out the US leader – me. I’m on every list.’
‘I’m on every single one of their lists, and so far I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long, because that’s the way it goes,’ Trump continued.
The United States and Iran each asserted on Monday they controlled the Strait of Hormuz after a weekend of attacks stretching across the wider Middle East, further threatening any diplomacy to end the war.
