US President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a stark warning to Iran, stating that he has given instructions for the country to be "annihilated" if it attempts to assassinate him.
"If they did, they would be annihilated," Trump said in a press briefing at the White House, where he signed a memorandum to increase pressure on Tehran. "I have given instructions: if they do, they will be annihilated, there will be nothing left."
The Justice Department announced in November that it had thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump before the presidential election. According to the indictment, Iranian authorities ordered Farhad Shakeri, 51, in September to surveil and ultimately assassinate Trump. Shakeri is currently a fugitive in Iran, according to US officials.
The presidential memorandum signed by Trump reinstates a hard-line policy towards Iran, aimed at preventing the country from acquiring nuclear weapons and limiting its oil exports.
In his press statements, Trump asserted that Iran cannot possess nuclear weapons and argued that the US has the right to block the sale of Iranian oil to other countries.
Trump made these remarks before meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, where they will discuss, among other issues, the escalating tensions with Iran, which last year attacked Israel twice with missiles and drones.