The New York Times reports that US officials feared Israel was planning to murder Foreign Minister Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf in an effort to blow up Trump’s ceasefire and peace talks with Tehran.
Israel National News
US officials believed Israel was planning to murder two senior Iranian negotiators while Washington was engaged in sensitive talks with Tehran this spring.
According to the New York Times, American officials became increasingly concerned that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf were the targets of planned assassinations during ceasefire negotiations that began in April. US officials feared such an action would derail the diplomatic process that President Trump was trying to facilitate.
The report said that the United States pressed friendly countries in the region to warn Iran about the likelihood that the two officials were on Israel’s list of Iranian officials that were to be murdered.
Israel’s strategy early in the war focused on eliminating senior Iranian leaders, while US military operations concentrated on Iran’s naval and missile capabilities.
Israeli strikes murdered Ali Larijani, Iran’s top national security official, and former Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi, both of whom were participating in negotiations with the United States.
Differences between Washington and Jerusalem widened after the initial phase of the conflict, with the Trump administration pursuing a diplomatic agreement, while Israeli officials remained skeptical of ending hostilities before achieving broader war objectives.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Israel had placed Araghchi and Ghalibaf on a kill list before removing them under pressure from the US. A US official and a Middle East official were cited as saying that the Trump administration learned that at least Ghalibaf had been included on the list and demanded that Israel not proceed.
According to the report, Iranian officials took additional security precautions during the negotiations. Before Ghalibaf traveled to Islamabad for talks, Iran reportedly sought assurances through Pakistani and Qatari intermediaries that Israel would not target the delegation.
Pakistani fighter jets escorted the Iranian delegation’s aircraft during the visit. On the return flight, Iranian security officials warned of what they believed was a possible Israeli threat, prompting the plane carrying Ghalibaf to make an emergency landing in Mashhad before the delegation continued its journey to Tehran by land.
Araghchi and Ghalibaf later traveled to Qatar and Switzerland for additional meetings with US officials despite the reported security concerns.