Former U.S. President Donald Trump rejected a recent Israeli proposal to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Reuters, citing two senior American officials.
One U.S. official told Reuters:
“Have the Iranians killed any Americans so far? No. Until they do that, we’re not even talking about striking political leadership.”
According to the report, high-level communication has been ongoing between American and Israeli officials since the start of Israel’s large-scale offensive against Iran, which aims to halt Tehran’s nuclear program.
Israel reportedly informed the U.S. that it had an opportunity to eliminate Khamenei, but Trump dissuaded them from carrying out the plan. It remains unclear whether Trump personally conveyed this message, but officials confirmed that he has been in frequent contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In an interview on Fox News’ Special Report with Bret Baier on Sunday, Netanyahu declined to directly address the Reuters report:
“There are so many false reports about conversations that never happened. I’m not going to get into that,”
“But I’ll tell you this: we do what we have to do, and we’ll keep doing it. And I believe the United States knows what’s best for itself.”
Still, Trump acknowledged that American involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran is possible, during a phone interview with ABC News on Sunday.
“We’re not involved at this moment. It’s possible we’ll get involved. But right now, we’re not,”
Trump told journalist Rachel Scott.
When asked whether there’s a deadline for Iran to return to the negotiation table, Trump answered,
“No, there’s no deadline, but they are talking. They want a deal. They’re talking. They continue to talk.”
Trump has long expressed hope for restarting U.S.-Iran nuclear talks. However, a planned meeting scheduled for Sunday in Oman was cancelled due to the ongoing attacks.
