“We’ve known for a long time that Iran had intentions to kill President Trump.”
Those intentions have now been crushed.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered that blunt confirmation when asked about Operation Epic Fury, the joint United States–Israel campaign that ultimately eliminated an Iranian operative tied to a plot to assassinate Donald Trump when he was a presidential candidate.
During a Pentagon briefing, Mary Margaret Olohan, White House correspondent for The Daily Wire, asked Hegseth whether the operation had taken out the individual connected to the assassination effort targeting Trump.
🚨@SecWar tells @MaryMargOlohan that he and others made sure that the Iranians who attempted to assassinate President Trump eventually became part of the Operation Epic Fury target list:
“It wasn’t the beginning of the effort..but ultimately if we had the opportunity to get at… pic.twitter.com/zfuOTctHhz
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) March 4, 2026
During a Pentagon press briefing early Wednesday morning, Hegseth explained the mission initially focused on Iranian missile systems and launch capabilities but said those responsible for threats against the United States were ultimately added to the target list.
“We’ve known for a long time that Iran had intentions to kill President Trump, while that wasn’t the focus of the effort by any stretch of the imagination, never was raised by the president or anybody else,” Hegseth said. “I ensured, and others ensured that they were eventually part of the target list.”
“It wasn’t the beginning of the effort — we were focused on missiles and launchers,” he continued. “Ultimately, if we had the opportunity to get at those who were trying to get at America, we would. We eventually had the opportunity to do that from the air.”
The Iranian operative believed to have been eliminated was Rahman Mokadam, identified as the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Special Operations Division and the alleged architect behind a sophisticated Iranian plot to assassinate Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Mokadam’s division had long drawn international scrutiny for overseeing unconventional warfare operations and extraterritorial “murder-for-hire” schemes.
Details of the Trump plot surfaced in November 2024 when the United States Department of Justice unsealed criminal charges against Farhad Shakeri, an IRGC asset. According to federal investigators, Shakeri — an Afghan national deported from the United States in 2008 — was directed in September 2024 to surveil and ultimately assassinate then-candidate Trump.
Court documents allege that IRGC officials were willing to commit massive financial resources to the operation, with one official telling Shakeri that “money’s not an issue.” Prosecutors say the plotters initially sought a plan within seven days. When Shakeri indicated the timeline was unrealistic, investigators say the IRGC instructed him to delay the effort until after the election, believing Trump would lose and be more vulnerable as a private citizen.
“Shakeri has informed law enforcement that he was tasked on Oct. 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill President-elect Donald J. Trump,” the DOJ said in court filings.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said Trump had been made aware of the assassination plot, adding, “Nothing will deter President Trump from returning to the White House and restoring peace around the world.”
The assassination scheme was not limited to Trump. Shakeri and two associates, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt, arrested in New York, were also charged with targeting outspoken Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad in Brooklyn.
Alinejad wrote on X, “I am shocked. The person assigned to assassinate @realDonaldTrump was also assigned to kill me on U.S. soil. I came to America to practice my First Amendment right to freedom of speech — I don’t want to die. Thank you to law enforcement for protecting me.”
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