Feb. 8 – The U.S. President Donald Trump said he had given his advisors instructions to “obliterate Iran” if agents of its regime assassinated him, as tensions between Tehran and Washington remained high.
The US president ordered the killing of Iran’s most senior military general Qassem Soleimani in 2020 during his first term as president, inciting Iran to say it would seek revenge for the murder.
Trump’s close relationship with Israel and the reinstatement of his maximum pressure policy on Iran have also increased hostilities between the states.
A report produced during the end of the Biden presidency and shared with the Trump administration found that Iran was developing plans to produce an atomic weapon faster, in the event that the regime decided it wanted to produce a bomb.
Iran’s nuclear program has been a source of concern, with several states including the US, the UK, France and Germany opposing Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon.
And a former soldier in the UK has been jailed for spying for Iran, and escaping prison while awaiting his trial.
Daniel Abed Khalife, whose mother was born in Iran, was sentenced to more than 14 years in jail for the offenses.
Khalife was accused of contacting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and passing on confidential information about individuals in the Special Air Service and the Special Boat Service. Khalife denied the charges.
