A new report says the United States suspected that Israel was planning to assassinate Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during the Iran nuclear talks, according to Ynet. The report comes hours after The New York Times detailed a similar scenario from April, in which Pakistani fighter jets escorted the Iranian delegation's plane.
The United States feared that Israel was planning to assassinate two senior Iranian officials — Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — during the ongoing nuclear talks, according to a report by Ynet published Thursday evening. The report cites American concerns that Israeli operatives would target the Iranian delegation while it was engaged in negotiations, though specific details on timing or operational planning were not disclosed.
As The Zioneer reported earlier Thursday, The New York Times revealed that in April, U.S. intelligence suspected a similar Israeli assassination plot against Ghalibaf and Araghchi during talks in Islamabad, prompting Pakistani fighter jets to escort the Iranian delegation’s plane, which later made an emergency landing. The new Ynet report suggests these concerns may have persisted into later rounds of the negotiations.
The reports indicate ongoing tension between the U.S. and Israel over the Iran nuclear deal — Washington seeking to advance talks while Israeli officials have warned of a dangerous agreement that could embolden Tehran. Both stories rely on single-source accounts; the underlying assertions remain unverified by official Israeli or U.S. statements.
6 developments
- ConfirmedUS intensifies last-minute diplomatic push to avert Iranian retaliation against Israel
- DevelopingUS conveys to Iran: we cannot restrain Bibi if you attack Israel
- DevelopingAraghchi warns Israel is leading opposition, disclosure could derail US-Iran deal
- StrongWSJ: Netanyahu tried to block emerging US-Iran deal, warned Trump not to trust Tehran
Source and signal
- Internal intake