US President Donald Trump has warned that the United States will "completely decimate" Iran if it attempts or succeeds in assassinating him, escalating already high tensions between Washington and Tehran following a series of military exchanges.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that orders had already been issued and that the US military was "ready, willing, and able, for a one year period of time, subject to extension, to completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran." He added that 1,000 missiles are "locked and loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran," with thousands more prepared to follow should any assassination attempt be made. The stark warning came after US media reported that Israel had shared intelligence with Washington about what it described as a new and "specific" Iranian plan to kill the sitting president.
The threats land against a backdrop of sharply deteriorating relations. Iran this week laid to rest its former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — who was killed in an airstrike more than four months ago — as two days of mutual US and Iranian strikes stoked fears of a return to all-out conflict. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has in turn criticised Washington for what he called a clear breach of an interim agreement reached between the two sides, accusing the US administration of failing to uphold its commitments.
Diplomats are working urgently to contain the crisis. Qatari negotiators travelled to Iran to meet with officials in an effort to de-escalate tensions and lay the groundwork for broader negotiations, a move described as being conducted in coordination with the United States. Qatar, a small Gulf state that has long served as a channel between Washington and Tehran given the absence of direct diplomatic relations, has played a similar mediation role in previous episodes of US-Iran tension.
Why this matters: the standoff between the United States and Iran — two countries with no formal diplomatic ties since 1980 — carries significant consequences for regional stability across the Middle East, global energy markets, and the wider international order. With military assets activated, mutual accusations of bad faith, and back-channel diplomacy under pressure, the risk of miscalculation on either side remains acute.