Was Iran Plotting To Assassinate Trump?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is a global production.
I think we should talk about the assassination plot. Here's yet another report of Trump potentially being in the crosshairs of the hardliners or whoever inside Iran.
Israel wants Trump to think the worst possible things about the Iranian regime. That's what they've done since the beginning.
The US, as you remember a week or so ago, apparently indirectly warned the Iranian negotiators that Israel might be planning to kill the top Iranian negotiators. It's a vicious cycle of plots and warnings and who knows what's going on.
Very, very smart people trying to do something they think is good for their country. can come up with some of the most cockamamie ideas that I've ever heard. And this is a cockamamie idea.
How credible is the reported Iranian assassination plot against Donald Trump?
I think Zelensky's counterattack into Russia is actually now impressing Trump. But, Jamie, Putin still shows no indication whatsoever that he's given up even his maximalist dreams.
When Hollywood tries to come up with scripts, they couldn't have come up with one like this.
Hi, everybody. Welcome to the latest episode of The X-Files with me, Christiane Amanpour, in London.
And Jamie Rubin in New York.
So here are the questions we're going to try to pose and to answer. Iran's Trump assassination plot, how seriously should we take all that? How will Lindsey Graham's death, Senator Graham and Iran Hawke, affect the Iran war and U.S. foreign policy more widely? And later on, does the far right in Europe threaten the future of NATO? not to mention the far right in the United States. It's a growing movement, and we'll have our recommendations as well. So let's get to the Iran latest. Jamie, amidst all these questions we just posed and we're going to hopefully get to, is a real resumption of what you could call a hot war light. Not a cold war, not a full-scale hot war, but still a hot war. Would you describe it as that?
I don't know whether hot or light or half war, half diplomacy, coercive diplomacy maybe would be the word that I would use. I think what's going on here is that both sides are limiting the types of military action they're taking. in the hopes of returning to diplomacy, because I don't think either side wants a return to full-scale war. The Trump administration seems to think that by attacking targets that are generally focused on the Strait of Hormuz, they can pressure the Iranians into opening the Strait of Hormuz. That hasn't happened yet. That was supposed to be the big result of this ceasefire agreement, the successful reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. And that's where I think the source of the problem is.
The administration seems to think it can improve the Iranian actions by using force. And the Iranians seem determined to say that's not going to happen. When you hit us, we hit you back.
And on the other hand, the Iranians seem to be, even those who sort of realize that the American war game had not been gamed well enough and didn't work really, but the Iranians may be in a state of overextending themselves, over-negotiating, and actually potentially finding themselves in a bit of a multi-headed Hydra decision-making process inside. Listen, we'll talk about that in a moment, but first, I think we should talk about the assassination plot. Here's yet another report of Trump potentially being in the crosshairs of the hardliners or whoever inside Iran. So the latest one is about the apparently Israeli intelligence discovered some chatter that this was being considered. They did discover an actual plot, but that this was being considered.
How seriously should we take it? Trump has started talking about it now.
It's hard to know. I don't have access to this information anymore. I will say this. It does look like that was the reason why they didn't use the new Air Force One when he left the last NATO summit in Turkey. Israeli intelligence is a complex thing. We know that in certain occasions they have done amazing things. The pagers with Hezbollah to put the bombs in pagers and then be able to destroy foot soldiers or kill them or harm them.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–0:49
2
How credible is the reported Iranian assassination plot against Donald Trump?
0:49–10:47
3
Could Israeli intelligence be influencing U.S. perceptions of Iran?
10:47–20:09
4
What does the alleged plot timeline reveal about Iranian decision‑making?
20:09–39:39
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files
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