Iran targets Melania and Barron Trump in disturbing 'how-to' video encouraging their assassination

WASHINGTON, DC: A video circulating out of Iran is encouraging supporters of the regime to assassinate first lady Melania Trump and her and the president's son, Barron Trump.

Titled "How to Kill Melania Trump," the video posted by Tasnim News Agency, a semi-official news agency associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), shows images of the first lady traveling in her motorcade and visiting locations around New York City, going so far as to name specific designer stores where she shops.

New video is part of an escalating pattern of threats against the family

The footage suggests Melania's shopping trips could be "suitable for operations by global freedom fighters," and even floats the idea of using a nerve agent to poison clothing she might purchase.

One clip shows a limousine carrying Melania passing Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue, with red target-like circles overlaid on the store signs.

Near the video's end, Barron, 20, is directly threatened as well: "This is just the beginning. Barron Trump, wait for us." The East Wing and the Secret Service haven't commented on the video. 

Both the first lady and Barron have full-time Secret Service details. All the Trump residences, the White House, Trump Tower in New York, the Bedminster golf club and the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, are heavily secured. 

The video is the latest in a string of threats aimed at the president's family since the war with Iran began. Billboards demanding the deaths of Trump and his relatives, including Melania and his children Don Jr, Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, and Barron, appeared around Tehran last week, reading simply, "Blood for blood."

Melania has kept a lower public profile this month, skipping Friday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner; a source close to her told the New York Post she had a "scheduling conflict."

Trump says he's prepared for the worst

Trump also has faced threats from Iran and acknowledged he’s their number one target, after a US-Israel operation knocked off its supreme leader and regime figures.

Earlier this month, the president had to switch from his new Air Force One to take the older model out of Turkey, where he was attending a NATO meeting, due to Iranian threats, the New York Times reported.

Trump told the New York Post he has made arrangements in the event of a successful attempt on his life.

"I've been on their list for a long time. That's what we're dealing with," he said. "The only thing is, I've left instructions, if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they've never seen before."

The threats against Melania and Barron come as separate reports indicate ceasefire talks between the US and Iran made "significant" progress this week, with Trump voicing cautious optimism while warning the conflict could reignite if negotiations collapse. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is separately expected to brief Trump on intelligence alleging Iran continues building up its nuclear program at a secretive site known as Pickaxe Mountain, according to a source in Jerusalem.