US President Donald Trump blocked an Israeli plan to kill Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the last two days, news agency Reuters reported, citing two US officials.
“Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we’re not even talking about going after the political leadership,” one of the sources, a senior U.S. administration official, reportedly said.
They also said that top US officials have been in regular communication with Israeli officials since Jerusalem launched a massive attack on Iran three days ago, in an attempt to halt its nuclear programme.
The officials reportedly said that Israelis told the US side about an opportunity they had to kill Khamenei, but Trump waved them off of the plot.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, when asked about the report on Trump’s veto, reportedly said that “There’s so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I’m not going to get into that.”
“But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we’ll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States,” he added.
Netanyahu also told Fox News that the change of regime in Iran could be a result of Israeli’s military strikes on Tehran.
Earlier, Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran amid the escalating hostilities with Israel and threatened to launch the “full strength and might” of the US military if Iran were to target American assets. Follow Iran Israel war live updates
“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US armed forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
He also said that a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in the Middle East was possible. “However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict,” Trump said.
Trump’s threat to Iran came after Tehran warned the United States, United Kingdom and France that their bases and shapes in the region will be targeted if they help block Iranian strikes on Israel, Reuters had reported.
The US President on Sunday urged Iran and Israel to “make a deal” and added that his intervention has led to peace between several countries in conflict. However, he said, he “never got credit” for the same.
Trump cited the ‘peace’ between countries such as Serbia and Kosovo and Egypt and Ethiopia over conflicts they once had.
Israel-Iran conflict
The conflict between Israel and Iran on Sunday entered its third day, with the exchange of fire between the two countries continuing to take place.
Iranian media reported that at least 128 people died in Israeli strikes on the region, while a Washington-based human rights group said that at least 406 people had died in Iran and 654 others had been wounded.
