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Iran Is Reportedly Considering a Plot to Kill the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, Lana Marks

Photo credit: Larry Busacca - Getty Images
Photo credit: Larry Busacca - Getty Images

From Town & Country

According to a new report from Politico, the Iranian government is considering an assassination attempt on the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, Lana Marks.

Citing two unnamed government sources—one official "familiar with the issue" and another official "who has seen the intelligence"—Politico notes that the U.S. has been aware of a threat against Marks since the spring, but the reported plot "has become more specific in recent weeks."

"Attacking Marks is one of several options U.S. officials believe Iran’s regime is considering for retaliation since the general, Qassem Soleimani, was assassinated by a U.S. drone strike in January," write journalists Nahal Toosi and Natasha Bertrand.

Marks has reportedly been made aware of the threat against her, but has yet to comment on it publicly. The State Department, the CIA, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence all declined to comment for the Politico story. A spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies Politico's report to be true.

Prior to being sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa last October, Marks was perhaps best known as a luxury handbag designer. She was also apparently a close personal friend of the late Princess Diana's. In fact, Marks has said they were supposed to be on a trip together the night the Princess of Wales died.

“It was a terrible time. I was supposed to be on vacation with Diana in Milan right then,” Marks once told The Sun. “We were going to go to Lake Como before flying back. I felt bad because she was at a loose end. I still feel the pain of it all. I constantly think, ‘What if she’d been with me?’ All that might not have happened.”

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