Will blow your country to smithereens: Trump blasts Iran amid death threats

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) hit out at Iran, saying it will be “blown to smithereens” if the Islamic country is involved in assassination attempts on former presidents and presidential candidates. This came as Trump alleged “big threats” to his life from Iran after surviving two assassination attempts in two months.
“If I were the president, I would inform the threatening country, in this case, Iran, that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens. We’re going to blow it to smithereens,” Trump said amid cheers at a rally in Mint Hill, North Carolina.
“There have been two assassination attempts on my life that we know of, and they may or may not involve, but possibly do, Iran, but I don’t really know,” he added.
Trump made the remarks after US intelligence officials briefed him on Tuesday on “real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him”, according to his campaign.
Federal authorities are investigating the assassination attempts on Trump at his Florida golf course earlier this month and at a rally in Pennsylvania in July. There has been no indication of involvement of Iran or any other foreign power in both the incidents.
During the North Carolina rally on Wednesday, Trump questioned why Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, is being protected by US law enforcement.
“We have the president of Iran in our country this week, we have large security forces guarding him, and yet they’re threatening our former president and the leading candidate to become the next president — certainly a strange set of circumstances,” said Trump, who faces Vice President and Democrat Kamala Harris in the November 5 election.
On Tuesday, Trump alleged “big threats” to his life from Iran and that an attack on him was a “death wish” for the attacker.
“Big threats to my life from Iran. The entire US military is watching and waiting. Moves were already made by Iran that didn’t work out, but they will try again. Not a good situation for anyone. I am surrounded by more men, guns and weapons than I have ever seen before,” he tweeted.
On July 13, Trump narrowly survived a shooting when a bullet grazed his ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The second failed assassination attempt took place on September 15 when the former president was at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Ryan Wesley Routh (58), who was spotted outside the golf course with a gun, was charged on Tuesday for attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate.