US Claims to Have Killed Iranian Official Who Planned to Kill Trump
The Pentagon or the United States Department of Defense announced that the U.S. military has killed an Iranian official who led a unit planning to assassinate President Donald Trump. The name of the slain Iranian official was not disclosed further by the Pentagon. The announcement was made as it provided the latest briefing on the military operation by the United States, together with Israel, against Iran that was launched since Saturday (28 February local time).
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, as reported by Reuters on Thursday (5 March 2026), praised the killing of the Iranian official, which he said occurred on Tuesday (3 March local time). He also stressed that the Iranian official was not the main focus of the war.
“The leader of the unit that sought to kill President Trump has been hunted down and killed. Iran sought to kill President Trump and President Trump who laughed last,” Hegseth told reporters.
In 2024, the United States Department of Justice charged an Iranian man in connection with alleged plans ordered by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to assassinate Trump, who at that time was the elected President of the United States. Tehran strongly denied the charges.
Hegseth further stated that Trump never raised concerns about the efforts to track down the head of the Iranian unit behind the assassination plot as a Pentagon priority.
“Although that was not the focus of the operation at all — in fact, it was never discussed by the President or anyone — I can assure you, and others can confirm, that those responsible for it ultimately became part of the target list,” he said.
The United States Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine, in a separate statement, said the U.S. military continues to make progress against Iran after a series of devastating strikes.
He reported that Iranian ballistic missile launches across the theatre of operations had fallen by 86 percent since the first day of fighting and one-direction drone strikes had fallen by 73 percent from the early days.
Caine added that U.S. strikes were widening as part of efforts to build local air superiority along the southern coastline of Iran.