The U.S. military took out Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during Operation Epic Fury, a campaign that decapitated the Islamic nation’s regime.
But Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday that military assets also successfully killed an Iranian who was allegedly plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump.
During a news briefing at the Pentagon, Hegseth revealed that “yesterday, the leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed.”
He added that “Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh.”
Hegseth confirms that Iran tried to assassinate Trump and that those who attempted to do so have been hunted down and killed. pic.twitter.com/2ExUk447xK
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 4, 2026
Hegseth also told reporters that killing the mastermind of the would-be assassination on March 3 was “not the focus of the effort by any stretch of the imagination,” per a report from Axios.
But he said that “if we had the opportunity to get at those who are trying to get at Americans specifically, we would.”
Axios noted that the Justice Department charged Farhad Shakeri, 51, back in 2024 over an alleged assassination attempt with Trump as the target.
Shakeri was identified as an Afghan national living in Iran.
He had told U.S. authorities that he was ordered on Oct. 7, 2024, to carry out the attack, per the Justice Department.
Hegseth did not name the individual killed by U.S. forces on March 3, but said military assets were able to take out the leader “from the air.”
Under the leadership of President Trump, the rogue Iranian Terrorist Regime that sought to harm Americans is being completely crushed.
Killing these brutal terrorists is good for America.
President Trump will always put the safety and security of the American people first. pic.twitter.com/sxGExmFkGY
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 4, 2026
The apparent Iranian plot was not linked to the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, during which Trump was nearly killed, nor with another attempt on Trump’s life at his golf course in Florida.
More broadly, Hegseth made clear that the campaign in Iran was progressing well, but refrained from declaring a “mission accomplished situation.”
“This is simply a reality check,” he told journalists, per a report from The New York Times.
“The combination of U.S. and Israeli intelligence and combat power will control Iran and will control it soon,” he added.
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