Donald Trump stopped Israeli plan to kill Khamenei, says US official

The decision to block Israel's plan came after officials revealed they had an opportunity to kill Khamenei, but Trump waved them off the plan

US President Donald Trump on Sunday (local time) blocked Israel’s plan to kill Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Reuters reported, citing two senior US officials.

 

The decision came after Israeli officials revealed they had an opportunity to assassinate Khamenei. However, Trump waved them off the plan, the report added. It is unclear whether Trump personally delivered the message, but he has been in frequent contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

Citing a US official, the report stated, “Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do, we’re not even talking about going after the political leadership.”

 

Since Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran over Tehran’s advancing nuclear programme, top US officials have remained in constant communication with Israeli counterparts.

 

Hostilities between Israel and Iran have entered their fourth day with no signs of easing. While Iran has fired several waves of drones and missiles in the past 24 hours, Israel has struck the Iranian capital, Tehran, leaving 224 dead since the beginning of the conflict. Israel has reported 14 fatalities and around 400 injuries, according to its emergency services, Bloomberg reported.

 

According to The Times of Israel, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) intelligence chief, Brigadier General Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy, Hassan Mohaqiq, were killed in an Israeli strike. A third IRGC intelligence officer, Mohsen Bagheri, was also killed today. This follows the death of IRGC chief Hossein Salami, who was killed on Friday, the first day of the conflict.

 

As the conflict began on Friday with Israel firing missile barrages targeting Tehran, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the US had no involvement in Israel’s actions. “Our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” he said in a statement.

 

However, President Trump told Reuters on Friday (local time) that they “knew everything” about the Israeli strikes.

 

Iran wants Trump dead: Netanyahu

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in an interview with Fox News that Iran’s regime views Trump as a primary threat to its nuclear ambitions and wants to assassinate him. 

 

“They want to kill him. He’s enemy number one,” Netanyahu said.

 

“He tore up this fake agreement. He killed Qasem Soleimani. He made it clear—even now—‘You cannot have a nuclear weapon, which means you cannot enrich uranium.’ He’s been very forceful, so for them, he’s enemy number one,” Netanyahu told Fox News.

 

Describing the current operation, termed “Operation Rising Lion”, Netanyahu called it “one of the greatest military operations in history.”