President Donald Trump rejected a plan presented by Israel to the U.S. to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the ongoing Israel Iran-conflict, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
The Israelis informed the Trump administration in recent days that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei.
After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move, according to the official who was not authorized to comment on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Trump administration is desperate to keep Israel’s military operation aimed at decapitating Iran’s nuclear program from exploding into an even more expansive conflict and saw the plan to kill Khamenei as a move that would enflame the conflict and potentially destabilize the region.
Asked about the plan during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not directly address whether the White House rejected the plan.
“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,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu spokesperson Omer Dostri later called reports about the Israeli plan to kill Khamenei “fake.”
Netanyahu in the Fox interview also said regime change “could certainly be the result” of the conflict “because the Iranian regime is very weak.”
Trump’s rejection of the proposal was first reported by Reuters.
Meanwhile, Trump on Sunday issued a stark warning to Iran against retaliating on U.S. targets in the Middle East while also predicting Israel and Iran would “soon” make a deal to end their escalating conflict.
Trump in an early morning social media posting said the United States “had nothing to do with the attack on Iran” as Israel and Iran traded missile attacks for the third straight day. Iran, however, has said that it would hold the U.S.—which has provided Israel with much of its deep arsenal of weaponry—for its backing of Israel.
“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” Trump said.
Hours later Trump took to social media again to predict “Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal.”
The U.S. president said he has a track record for de-escalating conflicts, and that he would get Israel and Iran to cease hostilities “just like I got India and Pakistan to make” after the two countries’ recent cross-border confrontation.
