US warned Iran of possible Israeli assassination attempts – report

The US reportedly warned Iran that Israel might attempt assassinations of the regime’s top negotiators.

By World Israel News Staff

US officials indirectly warned Iran this spring that Israel might try to assassinate two of Tehran’s top negotiators during talks to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according reports published by multiple outlets, exposing the depth of Washington’s concern that Israeli strikes could derail a fragile diplomatic track.

The warnings reportedly centered on Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who had emerged as key figures in Iran’s contacts with the Trump administration after a ceasefire took effect in April.

According to the reports, US officials asked regional intermediaries to alert Tehran that Israel might try to kill the two men.

The move was described as extraordinary, given that Washington was effectively warning an adversary about potential action by its closest Middle East ally.

The Prime Minister’s Office rejected the allegations Friday, calling the report “fake news.”

“As usual, The New York Times’ latest story about Israel and the Iranian negotiators is fake news. A complete fabrication of reality,” the statement said.

The reports said that US officials feared that the killing of Araghchi or Ghalibaf would end negotiations and trigger renewed fighting. One US official quoted by The Washington Post said: “You kill those folks and you’re killing the pragmatists.”

US officials had reportedly told Israel as early as March not to continue targeting Iran’s political leadership as Washington searched for someone in Tehran who could negotiate a ceasefire. Israel had already killed several senior Iranian officials during the war, including national security chief Ali Larijani and former foreign minister Kamal Kharazi, both of whom were described as possible channels for talks with Washington.

“The turning point wasn’t the assassination of the supreme leader, it was the assassination of Larijani,” a Western official told The Washington Post. “The US was looking for an Iranian official to deal with and all of a sudden he was gone.”

The concern intensified after ceasefire negotiations began in earnest in April. The New York Times reported that Washington learned at least Ghalibaf had been placed on an Israeli target list and urged Israel not to proceed.

Israeli officials, according to earlier reporting cited by Israeli media, had removed both Araghchi and Ghalibaf from a target list after Pakistan asked Washington to intervene.

A Pakistani official told Reuters in March that Islamabad warned Washington that if Araghchi or Ghalibaf were killed, there would be “no one else to talk to” about a ceasefire. “Hence, the US asked the Israelis to back off,” the official said.

Iranian precautions reportedly grew more elaborate as the talks continued.

Ghalibaf’s plane reportedly made an emergency landing in Mashhad after Iranian security officials warned of intelligence that Israel planned to attack it.

Anadolu reported that the incident occurred after Ghalibaf returned from Islamabad, where he had been involved in contacts linked to the negotiations.

CNN reported that US officials said there was no immediate indication that American intelligence had identified a specific plot that prompted the warnings.

Rather, the concerns were driven by Israel’s broader targeted-killing campaign and public threats by senior Israeli officials against Iranian leaders.

President Donald Trump had previously acknowledged that Israel’s killing of Iranian officials had made diplomacy harder. Asked in March who Washington was negotiating with, Trump said he did not want to identify them because “I don’t want them to be killed.”

“You know, it’s a little tough,” he said. “They’ve wiped out everybody.”

The reports come as Washington and Tehran continue technical talks aimed at securing maritime access through the Strait of Hormuz and turning the April ceasefire into a more durable settlement. Reuters reported Wednesday that US and Iranian officials held talks in Doha on shipping through the strait and a lasting ceasefire.

Araghchi, in a post on X, warned that Iran would respond forcefully to any threat against its people or leadership.

“POTUS has committed the U.S. to muzzling its pets in Tel Aviv. If they ignore their master, Iran will school them,” Araghchi wrote.

His statement was attached to remarks by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz saying Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was “marked for death.”

A US official told The Washington Post that Trump still wanted diplomacy to continue.

“The president wants the peace process to play out,” the official said.

The Israeli Embassy in Washington declined to comment to The Washington Post and other outlets. The White House did not immediately provide a detailed public account of the reported warnings.