TEHRAN (Iran News) –Trump arrived at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to a rapturous reception on Monday, two days after he was struck in the ear by a would-be assassin’s bullet during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Republican delegates stood and cheered as Trump, wearing a thick bandage over his right ear, entered the stadium.

Trump, who appeared visibly moved, did not address the convention, but smiled and waved to the crowd as supporters chanted “Fight! Fight! Fight” and pumped their fists – a reference to the former president’s defiant reaction in the moments after he was shot, Al Jazeera reported.

After surveying the crowd, Trump took a seat in a VIP box with some of his children and his newly announced vice presidential running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance.

Multiple speakers addressed Saturday’s attack on Trump, who has credited God with saving his life, some of them invoking religious imagery.

Trump is due to formally accept the Republican nomination on Thursday, setting up a rerun of the 2020 contest against Democratic President Joe Biden in November.

Trump has signaled that unity will be a key theme of the four-day event, saying in a newspaper interview on Sunday that he would deliver a “whole different speech” than the one he had originally planned.

Trump is already leading Biden in most opinion polls, both nationwide and in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.

An average of polls collated by the 538 website shows Trump ahead by 2.2 percent nationally.

Trump’s lead has grown by 2 percentage points since a faltering debate performance by Biden last month that saw the 81-year-old Democrat trip over his words and lose his train of thought.

In a statement on Monday, the Foreign Ministry spokesman dismissed the anti-Iran accusation leveled in a “custom-ordered, biased and purposeful” report published in an American media outlet, which he said has referred to remarks from a purportedly US government official in an attempt to make it look real.

“We advise the American officials to stop resorting to hackneyed and worn-out methods for anti-Iran propaganda in the international arena,” Saeed Khatibzadeh added.

“As a responsible member of the international community, the Islamic Republic of Iran has proved its constant commitment to the international diplomatic principles and norms. Conversely, this is the United States and the incumbent regime at the White House that has ignored the basic diplomatic principles and has become a rogue regime in the international arena, particularly in recent years, with numerous measures out of line with internationally-accepted methods and norms, including masterminding and implementing tens of plots for assassination and military and intelligence interference,  withdrawal from many international agreements, violating the territorial integrity of nations, and the cowardly assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the honorable commander of the fight against terrorism,” the spokesman said.

Khatibzadeh denounced the baseless allegations, such as the recent anti-Iranian report in the US media, as part of the “Trump administration’s counter-intelligence campaign against Iran”, adding, “It was predictable that the United States regime would resort to anti-Iranian accusations and falsification ahead of the US presidential election, coupled with that (US) regime’s pressures to abuse the United Nations Security Council’s mechanisms with the purpose of intensifying pressure on the people of Iran.

“However, such measures and news fabrication that would possibly continue in future will undoubtedly get nowhere and will add to the long list of Washington’s continuous defeats in the face of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“As announced repeatedly, the Islamic Republic of Iran will press on with international legal action at all levels in connection with the criminal and cowardly assassination of General Soleimani, and will neither forgive nor forget the terrorist action.”

His comments came after American magazine Politico cited the US government officials as alleging that Iran is weighing an assassination attempt against the American ambassador to South Africa to avenge the assassination of Lt. General Qassem Soleimani.

The top Iranian general was assassinated in a US airstrike near Baghdad airport on January 3.

Salas herself was reportedly unharmed in the attack, the New Jersey Globe reports. Daniel Anderl, Salas’ 20-year-old son, was killed. Her husband, Mark Anderl, a criminal defense attorney, and former assistant Essex County prosecutor, reportedly underwent surgery at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick and is listed in critical but stable condition.

The FBI in Newark tweeted that it was “investigating a shooting that occurred at the home of Judge Ester Salas” and that the bureau was “looking for one suspect.”

A New Brunswick Police dispatcher told NPR that he could not confirm any details of the incident, but confirmed an ongoing investigation.

Salas, the first Latina to serve as a federal district judge in New Jersey, was nominated to her current position in 2010 by President Barack Obama.

The Globe said it was not immediately clear whether Salas, who it said had received threats in the past, was the target of the shooting. She has presided over high-profile cases, including the 2013 fraud trial of The Real Housewives of New Jersey stars Joe and Teresa Giudice.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted late Sunday: “Judge Salas and her family are in our thoughts at this time as they cope with this senseless act.”

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-NJ, said: “I know Judge Salas and her husband well, and was proud to recommend her to President Obama for nomination to NJ’s federal bench.”

“My prayers are with Judge Salas and her family, and that those responsible for this horrendous act are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice,” Menendez was quoted by the Globe as saying.

Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on Hisham al-Hashimi, 47, outside his home in the Zeyouneh area of Baghdad, a family member said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The family member heard five shots fired.

Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said he was later pronounced dead at a hospital, AP reported.

Al-Hashimi was a well-connected security analyst who appeared regularly on Iraqi television and whose expertise was sought out by government officials, journalists, and researchers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Hashimi’s killing.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi issued a statement offering his condolences. Iraq’s state paramilitary organization called for an investigation of his death.