President Donald Trump has rejected an Israeli plan to eliminate Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Reuters reported on the 15th.
According to the report, senior U.S. officials have been in constant contact with Israel since Israel launched a large-scale preemptive airstrike on the 12th to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons program, two U.S. officials who requested anonymity said. They said the Israelis specifically informed them that they had the opportunity to eliminate Iran’s Khamenei, but Trump rejected the plan.
The sources did not mention whether Trump personally conveyed this message. A senior U.S. official said, “Did the Iranians kill an American? Until they do, we will not even discuss targeting the (Iranian) political leader.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News on the same day, when asked by the host about the plan to assassinate Khamenei, “There are too many false reports about conversations that did not actually happen. I will not comment on that.”
Netanyahu continued, “But what I can say is that we will do what is necessary”.