Mastermind of Iranian plot to assassinate Trump is dead, Hegseth claims

An alleged mastermind of an Iranian covert unit accused of plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump in 2024 has been “hunted down and killed” amid Operation Epic Fury , Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday.

“Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh,” Hegseth declared during a press briefing with reporters. “This is not a ‘mission accomplished’ situation. This is simply a reality check.”

Iranian animus toward Trump traces back to his first term, when he authorized a January 2020 drone strike that killed General Qasem Soleimani, a powerful commander in the Quds Force. Since then, federal prosecutors have charged multiple people in two separate cases of Iranian murder-for-hire plots during the 2024 presidential campaign, though officials have not presented evidence directly tying Tehran to those schemes.

Hegseth did not name the alleged mastermind he said was killed in the ongoing operations.

In an interview Sunday, Trump addressed how the threats to his life spurred his decision to wage war on Iran and kill the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“I got him before he got me,” Trump said in a phone interview with ABC News . “They tried twice. Well, I got him first.”

Khamenei, who led the Islamic Republic since 1989, was killed Saturday by Israel in a joint operation with the U.S. It was the result of months of close intelligence sharing between the allies, officials told Military Times.

Hegseth described the broader U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran on Wednesday as “accelerating.” He indicated the two nations will establish complete control of Iranian airspace within days.

“It means we will fly all day, all night, day and night, finding, fixing, and finishing the missiles and defense industrial base of the Iranian military,” Hegseth said. “More and larger waves are coming. We are accelerating, not decelerating.”

Hegseth dismissed reports that stocks of munitions were running low, noting that the U.S. will deploy 500-pound, 1,000-pound and 2,000-pound GPS and laser-guided precision bombs “of which we have a nearly unlimited stockpile.”

As U.S. and Israeli forces advance their offensive, Iran has launched a series of retaliatory missile and drone strikes on American interests and allies across the Middle East.

American military installations — including the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates — have been targeted by the Islamic Republic.

But Gen. Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday that Iranian ballistic missile launches have decreased 86% since the opening day of fighting, including a 23% drop over the past 24 hours. He added that Iran’s one-way attack drones are down 73%.

The Pentagon also disclosed that a torpedo from a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean Tuesday night – marking the first sinking of an enemy warship by an American torpedo since World War II.

Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.

美国国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯周三宣布，一名被指控策划在2024年刺杀美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的伊朗秘密部队的幕后主使在“史诗狂怒行动”中被“追捕并击毙”。

“伊朗试图刺杀特朗普总统，但特朗普总统笑到了最后，”赫格塞斯在新闻发布会上宣称。“这并非‘任务完成’，而只是对现实的一次检验。”

伊朗对特朗普的敌意可以追溯到他的第一个任期，当时他授权发动了2020年1月的无人机袭击，炸死了圣城旅高级指挥官卡西姆·苏莱曼尼将军。此后，联邦检察官在两起不同的案件中指控多人涉嫌在2024年总统竞选期间受雇谋杀，但官员们尚未提供直接证据证明德黑兰与这些阴谋有关。

赫格塞斯没有透露据称在行动中被击毙的幕后主使的姓名。

特朗普在周日的一次采访中谈到，他的生命受到威胁，这促使他决定对伊朗发动战争并刺杀该国最高领袖阿亚图拉·阿里·哈梅内伊。

“我先下手为强，”特朗普在接受美国广播公司新闻电话采访时说。“他们尝试了两次。好吧，我先下手为强。”

哈梅内伊自 1989 年以来一直领导着伊朗伊斯兰共和国，他于周六在以色列与美国的联合行动中被击毙。官员们告诉《军事时报》，这是盟军数月密切情报共享的结果。

赫格塞斯周三表示，美以两国针对伊朗的全面行动正在“加速”。他暗示，两国将在几天内完全控制伊朗领空。

“这意味着我们将昼夜不停地飞行，搜寻、修复并最终摧毁伊朗军方的导弹和国防工业基地，”赫格塞斯说。“更大更猛烈的攻势即将到来。我们正在加速，而不是减速。”

赫格塞斯驳斥了有关弹药库存不足的报道，并指出美国将部署 500 磅、1000 磅和 2000 磅的 GPS 和激光制导精确炸弹，“我们拥有几乎无限的库存”。

随着美国和以色列军队推进攻势，伊朗对美国及其盟友在中东的利益发动了一系列导弹和无人机报复性袭击。

伊朗伊斯兰共和国袭击了包括美国第五舰队驻巴林总部、科威特阿里·萨利姆空军基地、卡塔尔乌代德空军基地和阿联酋达夫拉空军基地在内的多个美国军事设施。

但美军参谋长联席会议主席丹·凯恩将军周三表示，自冲突爆发以来，伊朗弹道导弹发射次数已下降86%，其中过去24小时内下降了23%。他还补充说，伊朗的单向攻击无人机发射次数也下降了73%。

五角大楼还透露，周二晚间，美国潜艇发射的一枚鱼雷在印度洋击沉了一艘伊朗军舰——这是自二战以来美国鱼雷首次击沉敌方军舰。

Tanya Noury 是《军事时报》和《防务新闻》的记者，她的报道主要集中在白宫和五角大楼。