Assassinations unleashed under Trump haunt Iran war endgame

Key Points:

• Israeli officials recently presented U.S. President Trump’s team with intelligence suggesting Iran was planning new assassination plots against him, continuing years of Iranian efforts targeting Trump and his top aides since the killing of General Qassem Suleimani in 2018.
• The assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a joint U.S.-Israeli operation earlier this year has intensified calls for revenge in Tehran, with public protests explicitly demanding Trump’s death and heightened security concerns for Iran’s new supreme leader.
• Experts warn that the U.S. normalization of political assassinations under Trump, including the targeted killings of Suleimani and Khamenei, has lowered international norms and increased the risk of reciprocal assassination attempts against U.S. officials.
• Trump has publicly acknowledged the threats against him, switching to a more secure Air Force One and warning of severe military retaliation if Iran attempts to assassinate him, signaling heightened tensions and the potential for escalation.
• The shift away from longstanding U.S. policies prohibiting assassination of foreign leaders marks a new paradigm in international relations, with political violence becoming more openly accepted and normalized under Trump’s administration.