Former governor and 2024 Republican presidential hopeful says she was targeted by Iranian assassination plot, and that Tehran also attempted to derail her campaign.
By David Rosenberg, World Israel News
Iran targeted former South Carolina Governor and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and her bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, Haley said Sunday.
Speaking with CBS, Haley warned of election interference by foreign powers including Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
The 52-year-old former governor, who currently serves as a member of the Hudson Institute, says she was targeted by an Iranian-backed assassination plot, adding that Iran also attempted to derail her presidential bid by interfering with her campaign for the Republican nomination.
“Look at the murder-for-hire plot on U.S. soil, which I was named in, by Iran,” Haley told CBS.
“Look at the Russian disinformation, which didn’t start this year. This has been going on for years. Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, to some extent.”
“When I was running my presidential campaign, the FBI had a separate hearing with me to let me know that Iran was meddling, . . . influencing the election through our campaign.”
“This has been going for a long time, and Americans need to wake up. Don’t just look at Russia. Don’t just look at China. Don’t just look at Iran. The biggest lesson we need to take is when you look at social media, I bet you a larger percentage of those are foreign engagements.”
Haley, who has called for tougher measures against Iran and urged the White House to enhance ties with Israel, is not the only presidential candidate this cycle to be targeted by Iran.
Last month, Google’s Threat Analysis Group confirmed that hackers linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had carried out online attacks on former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
Among other things, APT-42, a hacking syndicate backed by Tehran, managed to break into the Trump campaign’s database and steal internal documents before distributing them to news outlets, Google said.