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Current and former US officials claim that Washington was deeply concerned about the possibility of Israel assassinating top Iranian negotiators. This concern arose while President Donald Trump’s administration was attempting to achieve a diplomatic settlement to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
A report by the US news outlet Wall Street Journal stated that the United States secretly sent warnings to Tehran through intermediaries about potential assassination attempts targeting Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the country’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
An unnamed US official, explaining Washington’s concern over Israel’s targeted killing strategy, commented, ‘If you kill these individuals, you will kill the pragmatists.’
Another diplomat disclosed that, since March, the Trump administration had repeatedly urged Israel not to target Iran’s political leadership. This was because opening a path for potential negotiations with Tehran was Washington’s priority at the time.
According to analysts, the United States did not merely warn Israel but also preemptively alerted Iran about potential attacks. They believe this move highlights internal disagreements within US-Israel relations and demonstrates Israel’s limited influence on the Trump administration.
Aaron David Miller, a former US State Department official and Middle East analyst, said, ‘This shows a fundamental difference between the US and Israel regarding the purpose of the war. It also proves Israel’s firm stance on thwarting any potential diplomatic solution.’
The Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment on the matter. A White House official simply stated, ‘The President wants the peace process to move forward.’
Concerns raised by the United States about Israel’s potential assassination plans had previously been reported by The New York Times.
On February 28, a joint US-Israeli military operation reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several other political and military leaders. Initially, the two allied nations aimed for regime change in Iran. However, subsequent US assessments indicated that Tehran’s military and religious leadership still retained control. Following this, a clear divergence began to emerge between Washington and Tel Aviv.
According to officials, this divergence became even more pronounced after the assassination of Ali Larijani, a crucial figure in Iran’s national security structure, in mid-March. A Western official remarked, ‘The situation took a turn after Larijani was killed. The United States wanted to negotiate with an official who suddenly wasn’t alive anymore.’
Subsequently, Abbas Araghchi and Mohammad Ghalibaf became the United States’ primary contacts for discussions regarding the April ceasefire and the proposed structural agreement aimed at ending the war in June. However, before the agreement could be finalized, Israeli officials and influential pro-Israel lobbyists in Washington began to oppose it. Their claim was that this understanding would effectively halt the goal of regime change in Iran and pave the way for easing economic sanctions on the country.
In March, President Donald Trump also publicly hinted that Israel’s continuous assassinations were complicating diplomatic efforts. He stated then, ‘You know, it’s gotten tough. They’ve taken everybody out. I don’t want them to be killed.’
Middle Eastern media reported that Ghalibaf was present in a building that was targeted by Israeli attacks during a 12-day war last year. Furthermore, The New York Times reported that he narrowly escaped an Israeli attack this year on a meeting of senior Iranian officials in an underground bunker.
Analysts fear that potential assassination attempts targeting Ghalibaf, the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, and other top Iranian officials could trigger new instability across the region. They suggest such a scenario could lead to the rise of more hardline and revenge-seeking leadership, further complicating the security situation in the Middle East.