{"id":48372,"date":"2026-03-04T16:21:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T16:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2026\/03\/04\/mastermind-of-iranian-plot-to-assassinate-trump-is-dead-hegseth-claims\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:58:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:58:18","slug":"mastermind-of-iranian-plot-to-assassinate-trump-is-dead-hegseth-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/mideast-africa\/2026\/03\/04\/mastermind-of-iranian-plot-to-assassinate-trump-is-dead-hegseth-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastermind of Iranian plot to assassinate Trump is dead, Hegseth claims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An alleged mastermind of an Iranian covert unit accused of plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump in 2024 has been \u201chunted down and killed\u201d amid Operation Epic Fury<\/a>, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh,\u201d Hegseth declared during a press briefing with reporters. \u201cThis is not a \u2018mission accomplished\u2019 situation. This is simply a reality check.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iranian animus toward Trump traces back to his first term, when he authorized a January 2020 drone strike<\/a> that killed General Qasem Soleimani, a powerful commander in the Quds Force. Since then, federal prosecutors have charged multiple people in two separate cases<\/a> of Iranian murder-for-hire plots during the 2024 presidential campaign, though officials have not presented evidence directly tying Tehran to those schemes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth did not name the alleged mastermind he said was killed in the ongoing operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview Sunday, Trump addressed how the threats to his life spurred his decision to wage war on Iran and kill the country\u2019s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got him before he got me,\u201d Trump said in a phone interview with ABC News<\/a>. \u201cThey tried twice. Well, I got him first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khamenei, who led the Islamic Republic since 1989, was killed Saturday by Israel<\/a> in a joint operation with the U.S. It was the result of months of close intelligence sharing between the allies, officials told Military Times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth described the broader U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran on Wednesday as \u201caccelerating.\u201d He indicated the two nations will establish complete control of Iranian airspace within days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt means we will fly all day, all night, day and night, finding, fixing, and finishing the missiles and defense industrial base of the Iranian military,\u201d Hegseth said. \u201cMore and larger waves are coming. We are accelerating, not decelerating.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth dismissed reports that stocks of munitions were running low, noting that the U.S. will deploy 500-pound, 1,000-pound and 2,000-pound GPS and laser-guided precision bombs \u201cof which we have a nearly unlimited stockpile.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As U.S. and Israeli forces advance their offensive, Iran has launched a series of retaliatory missile and drone strikes on American interests and allies across the Middle East. <\/p>\n\n\n\t