In the immediate aftermath following the apparent assassination attempt against President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday evening, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency was quick to question whether the shooting was staged.
Tasnim, which has close ties with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), suggested that the shooting at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., as the Correspondents Dinner was commencing, may have been a “big show” intended to bolster President Trump’s approval ratings.
The news agency speculated that it could have been staged to improve President Trump’s position ahead of the upcoming mid-term elections or perhaps to “use it against Iran or another country”.
Tasnim said that “some of the signs that make this story seem like a Trump show” include the fact that President Trump narrowly survived another assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, several months before the 2024 Presidential Election.
“Trump took advantage of this story for election propaganda. And some say that this story may have been prepared for mid-term elections,” the Iranian outlet wrote.
“In this situation, which should be very critical and secure, Trump publishes a tweet that shows himself as a hero and brave and even announces that he is willing to stay in the ceremony!” Tasnim added.
Iran, which is currently in tense negotiations with the Trump administration over the future of its nuclear enrichment programme and the American-Israeli military operation waged against the Islamist regime in recent weeks, has previously been accused of attempting to assassinate President Trump.
In March, a federal jury in the United States convicted Pakistani national Asif Raza Merchant of attempting to kill President Trump in 2024 after having received training from Iran’s IRGC terror military force.
Another claimed Iranian asset, Farhad Shakeri, has been charged with an alleged plot to hire people in the United States to carry out an assassination against President Trump, also at the behest of the IRGC, prior to the 2024 Presidential Election.
Reports have indicated that the suspected shooter on Saturday evening is believed to have been a 31-year-old from California. There have been no indications of any ties to Iran.
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