Washington:
In the weeks leading up to the United States’ renewed strike on Iran amid former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s week-long funeral procession, Israel shared new intelligence with the Pentagon, indicating that Tehran was again plotting to kill US President Donald Trump, according to US media reports.
The information about a supposed ‘kill plot’ added another layer of tension between Washington and Tehran as a ceasefire deal between the countries comes under strain, marking the escalation.
Quoting a source, CNN reported that the warning about Iran’s alleged assassination plan came this week. However, another source told the publication that a steady hum of the plan was picked up by US intelligence in recent weeks, but the warning from Israel was new and concerned a specific plot.
However, some American officials are worried the Israeli intelligence could merely be an effort to sway Trump’s decision-making as he contemplated whether to intensify American military action against Iran or continue with the ceasefire plan.
Any details about the Israeli warning are not clear so far, but CNN reported that the United States has not vetted it itself, nor was it tracking it before the Israeli warning.
Tehran, for years, has openly threatened to retaliate against Trump for America’s alleged role in the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, who was a top general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the president’s first term. Even during the funeral procession of Ali Khamenei and his other family members killed in the February 28 US-Israeli strikes, Iranian mourners chanted for Trump’s death, with mourners unveiling a banner that read “We Will Kill Trump.”
The American commander-in-chief himself alluded this week that there was an Iranian threat to his life. “They want to take out the US leader—me,” Trump told reporters in Ankara during the NATO summit.
“I’m on every list. I saw this morning I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long,” he said.
There has been a thaw in Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s relations in recent weeks after they turned icy over their diverging interests over continuing the Iran war. The Israeli leader has advocated for continuing the fighting to accomplish more war aims. Trump, on the other hand, has sought a way out of the conflict, citing concerns it could tank the global economy.
The US and Iran finally struck a fragile ceasefire last month.
But, on Thursday, Trump and Netanyahu spoke again, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office. It claimed that Washington and Tel Aviv have agreed to continue “coordination between the countries,” and Trump has also updated Netanyahu on recent US activity in the Gulf.
