Pete Hegseth says US strikes killed Iranian covert leader behind Trump assassination plot

WASHINGTON, DC: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Wednesday, March 4, that the leader of an Iranian covert unit linked to a plot to assassinate President Donald Trump was killed during 'Operation Epic Fury'. Hegseth said the man had been tracked down and killed, but he did not share the official’s name.

Now, the same unit is connected to the federal trial of Asif Merchant in New York. Tensions between the US and Iran have risen sharply after missile strikes reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian covert unit leader linked to Trump plot killed, says Pete Hegseth

An Iranian official accused of leading a covert unit behind a plot to assassinate President Trump has been killed in US strikes, according to Hegseth. Speaking at the Pentagon during an operational update on the four-day-old conflict, Hegseth said, "The leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed."

He continued, "Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh." He added, "Now, this is not a ‘mission accomplished’ situation. This is simply a reality check." Hegseth said the strike happened on Tuesday, March 3, and stressed that the Iranian official was not the original target when the military campaign began.

Separately, Asif Merchant is a 46-year-old Pakistani man who has been charged in the US over a failed plan to kill a politician. Officials say he worked with people linked to Iran in the alleged plot. The Department of Justice shared his photo in August 2024 as part of the case.

In 2024, a group linked to Iran allegedly made a plan to kill President Trump. Iran had already threatened him after the 2020 US strike that killed General Qasem Soleimani. In 2022, a video from Iran showed a fake scene of Trump being attacked while playing golf, as per Fox News.

Pete Hegseth speaks on US-Israel military action

Now on Wednesday, Hegseth, apart from discussing the death of the unnamed covert unit leader, said the US and Israel are working together and added, "America is winning decisively, devastatingly and without mercy."

He also said that going after the Iranian unit leader was not the main goal at the start, saying, "While that was not the focus of the effort by any stretch of the imagination—in fact, never raised by the President or anybody else—I ensured, and others ensured, that those who were responsible for that were eventually part of the target list."

On the other hand, speaking about Khamenei’s killing, Trump talked about it during a phone call with ABC News journalist Jonathan Karl earlier this week, saying, "I got him before he got me."