The U.S. officials who have been targeted or threatened by Iran

Washington — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is the latest U.S. official to be threatened or targeted by Iran, but he is far from the first. The Iranian regime has been implicated in various plots to target top U.S. officials since 2020, when President Trump ordered the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.Threats against Americans have ramped up since the start of the ongoing war with Iran. Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton warned in October that Iran has "substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel" abroad, with plots to kill Americans reaching "advanced stages" in the Middle East and other countries.Bessent relocated from his home in the Washington, D.C., area to a military base following a series of Iranian threats against his life, CBS News confirmed Wednesday.

The threats against other officials have been detailed in court records and news reports. Here are other U.S. officials Iran has targeted or threatened in recent years:President Trump The U.S. charged Pakistani national Asif Merchant with plotting a murder-for-hire scheme targeting U.S. officials in documents unsealed in August 2024. Court documents didn't name his targets, but multiple sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News that President Trump was one of them. Merchant was convicted of terrorism and murder for hire in March of this year. The Justice Department said Merchant was a