US intelligence warns Donald Trump of ‘real, specific’ Iran assassination threats: Campaign

Donald Trump, a former US President and Republican Presidential candidate, was briefed on Tuesday by US intelligence officials on alleged threats from Iran to assassinate him, Trump's presidential campaign said.

In a statement, the campaign was quoted by news agencies Reuters and AFP as saying, “President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States.”

The campaign said that intelligence officials have identified that Iranian threats have "heightened in the past few months". It added that US government officials were working to protect Trump and ensure the elections were not impacted, Reuters reported.

Iran had earlier denied US claims of interfering in American affairs. Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations in New York and the ODNI did not immediately respond to requests for comment late on Tuesday.

The gunman accused of planning to kill Trump at his Florida golf course was indicted Tuesday on three additional counts, including attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, the US Department of Justice announced.

In addition to attempted assassination of a presidential candidate, the new charges also include possession of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime and assault on a federal officer, who court documents indicated was a Secret Service agent.

According to AFP, Routh's gun was spotted poking out from the bushes by a Secret Service agent as he scouted ahead during Trump's golf game. The agent fired on the suspect, who fled but was later apprehended.

It was the second assassination attempt on Trump this summer. The first took place on July 13 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a gunman opened fire, killing one person and wounding Trump in the ear.

Trump had previously accused the Department of Justice and FBI of "mishandling and downplaying" the golf course incident.

"The charges brought against the maniac assassin are a slap on the wrist," Trump said in a written statement released this week which may have been prepared before it emerged that extra felony counts on top of the earlier gun charges were a possibility.

(With inputs from agencies)