In an unusual assurance to the Biden administration last month, Iran promised it would not assassinate Donald Trump in a secret exchange intended to ease tensions, U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal, according to a Friday report.
The assurances reportedly came in a written message to the administration on Oct. 14, after the White House in September said it would take any attempt on Trump’s life as a serious national security that would reportedly ‘be treated as an act of war.’
The Department of Justice last week outlined allegations levied at Tehran that detailed a plot by an Iranian agent to assassinate the former president from the campaign trail.
The allegations came after a Pakistani man involved in an Iranian murder-for-hire scheme was charged by federal prosecutors in August with plotting to kill Trump.
Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the White House for comment on how it will act following the department’s charges last week.
Iran has long said it would seek revenge for the 2020 killing of its top military commander and chief of Iran’s Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated after then President Trump directed the U.S. military to kill him in Iraq.
Soleimani has since been dubbed a hero and a martyr.
In response to the news that Iran has since pledged not to assassinate the now president-elect, the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations told Fox News Digital, ‘We do not issue public statements on the details of official messages exchanged between the two countries.’
‘The Islamic Republic of Iran has long declared its commitment to pursuing Martyr Soleimani’s assassination through legal and judicial avenues, while adhering to the recognized principles of international law,’ the Mission added.
The White House has not publicly commented on the report, and Fox News Digital could not immediately reach Trump’s transition team for the president-elect’s reaction to it.
The Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, appeared to dismiss the Department of Justice’s allegations, calling the claims ‘third-rate comedy’ earlier this week.