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The Justice Department’s language in those cases was unusually stark. In the 2024 case, then Attorney General Merrick Garland said Iran had directed assassination plots against its targets, “including President-elect Donald Trump.” In the 2026 case, prosecutors said Merchant was part of a foiled plot tied to the IRGC, the same force that has long been accused by the United States of orchestrating operations well beyond Iran’s borders. The official record therefore gives fresh weight to Larijani’s latest remarks, even if Tehran has historically denied many such allegations and framed U.S. accusations as politically motivated.
Larijani himself is not a marginal figure making an offhand remark. Reuters identified him this month as Iran’s security chief and secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, placing him at the heart of decision-making during a period of extraordinary instability. Reuters also reported that he was present at a secure meeting with Iran’s top leadership shortly before the strikes that killed the country’s supreme leader and other senior figures. His public threat to Trump therefore carries the authority of someone deeply embedded in the state’s command structure at a moment when Iran is trying to project resilience after major military and political losses.
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