05 February 2025 , 07:56
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Donald Trump says he has given his advisers instructions to ’obliterate’ Iran if the nation attempts to assassinates him.
Speaking on the subject of Iran on Tuesday, Trump explained: "If they did that they would be obliterated".
The comments came as Trump spoke with reporters while signing an executive order calling for the US government to impose maximum pressure on Tehran.
"I’ve left instructions if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left," Mr Trump said.
The Justice Department announced in federal charges in November that an Iranian plot to kill Mr Trump before the presidential election had been thwarted.
The department alleged Iranian officials had instructed Farhad Shakeri, 51, in September, to focus on surveilling and ultimately assassinating Mr Trump.
Shakeri is still at large in Iran.
It came as Trump signed an executive order on Thursday withdrawing the US from the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday.
The president vowed to cut funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) as part of a slew of executive orders signed in front of waiting press.
"The US funding to the UN is excessive and unfair," the US President said while signing the order.
The executive order means Mr Trump has reinstated policies that were in place during his first administration.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was "torn" when choosing whether to sign it, but said Tehran was "too close" to having a nuclear weapon.
"Hopefully, we are not going to have to use it very much," he said. "I’m unhappy to do it."