CNN
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The U.S. government is “intensively pursuing” an ongoing threat from Iran against current and former U.S. officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

“This is something we have been following very closely for a long time, a sustained threat from Iran against a number of senior officials, including former administration officials such as (former President Donald Trump) and some individuals currently serving in the administration,” the senior U.S. diplomat said in an interview with NBC’s “Today” program.

“This is something we take very, very seriously. We are watching it very closely,” Blinken said.

Law enforcement officials are concerned about the ongoing threat that Iran may be trying to assassinate former Trump associates and the former president himself, multiple sources familiar with the matter previously told CNN. There has also been a noticeable increase in online messages from Iranian accounts and state-backed media mentioning Trump, which has raised security concerns among U.S. officials.

U.S. authorities have not described the threats against sitting officials, and Blinken did not provide further information on Wednesday.

Trump was briefed on Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence about “real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in order to destabilize the United States and create chaos,” his campaign said. An ODNI spokesman confirmed the briefing but declined to provide details.

“Iran is threatening my life in a massive way. The entire U.S. military is watching and waiting. Iran has already taken steps that have not worked, but they will try again,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social early Wednesday morning.

Iran has repeatedly vowed revenge for the US military’s killing of Qasem Soleimani, a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who was killed in a US airstrike at Baghdad International Airport in January 2020. And former senior Trump administration officials who worked in national security have been subject to tight security since leaving the government.

In his social media post Wednesday, Trump also thanked Congress after the Senate unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday guaranteeing that Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris receive the same Secret Service protection as a sitting president. The bill directs the Secret Service director to apply uniform standards for protecting presidents, vice presidents and major presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Congress is considering providing additional funding to the Secret Service to keep the government funded before the Sept. 30 deadline. Another resolution, which the House of Representatives could vote on as early as Wednesday, would provide an additional $231 million for the Secret Service.

CNN’s Evan Perez, Zachary Cohen, Natasha Bertrand, Kylie Atwood and Kristen Holmes contributed to this report.