[imagesource:here]

Lana Marks’ appointment as the US ambassador to South Africa back in 2018 raised many eyebrows, with the Pretoria-born handbag designer seemingly light on political experience.

Now, according to reports from US intelligence agencies, she’s getting a taste of how dangerous political tensions can be, with the Iranian government said to be weighing up an assassination attempt on her life.

The assassination would be in retaliation for US President Donald Trump’s decision to order the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in January of this year.

Below via Politico:

U.S. officials have been aware of a general threat against the ambassador, Lana Marks [below], since the spring, the officials said. But the intelligence about the threat to the ambassador has become more specific in recent weeks. The Iranian embassy in Pretoria is involved in the plot, the U.S. government official said…

An intelligence community directive known as “Duty to Warn” requires U.S. spy agencies to notify a potential victim if intelligence indicates their life could be in danger; in the case of U.S. government officials, credible threats would be included in briefings and security planning. Marks has been made aware of the threat, the U.S. government official said.

Whilst it isn’t entirely clear why Marks would be targetted specifically, it could be due to her longstanding friendship with Trump, and the fact that the Iranian government “operates clandestine networks in South Africa…and has had a foothold there for decades”.

The latter may make her an easier target than diplomats in other parts of the world, where US intelligence operations have better working relationships with local law enforcement.

You can read the full Politico report here.

[source:politico]