Netanyahu Claims Iran Tried to Assassinate Trump, Justifies Strikes on Tehran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Sunday that Iran had attempted to assassinate former U.S. President Donald Trump twice during his presidential campaign last year, branding Trump as Iran’s “enemy number one” due to his tough stance on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu said, “They want to kill him. He’s enemy number one.” He alleged that Iran orchestrated the assassination attempts “through proxies” and its intelligence services.

Justifying Israel’s recent military strikes on Iran, Netanyahu said, “Those who chant ‘death to America,’ tried to assassinate President Trump, killed 241 of your Marines in Beirut, and injured thousands of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, should never have nuclear weapons.”

Netanyahu praised Trump’s past actions against Iran, including withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal and ordering the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. “He took that fake agreement and tore it up. He made it very clear: you cannot have a nuclear weapon, which means you cannot enrich uranium,” said Netanyahu.

Calling himself Trump’s “junior partner,” Netanyahu claimed that Iran also attempted to assassinate him.

Israel’s surprise overnight strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities on Friday escalated regional tensions, killing several top Iranian commanders and nuclear scientists, according to Israeli officials.

Netanyahu described the current threat from Iran as “dual and existential,” citing Tehran’s alleged push to both build atomic bombs and scale up its ballistic missile capabilities. “No country can withstand 3,600 missiles a year or a nuclear-armed Iran,” he warned, defending Israel’s military response as necessary and urgent.