{"id":87449,"date":"2026-07-03T03:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T03:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/u-s-officials-believed-israel-was-plotting-to-kill-iranian-negotiators\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T03:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T03:38:12","slug":"u-s-officials-believed-israel-was-plotting-to-kill-iranian-negotiators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/u-s-officials-believed-israel-was-plotting-to-kill-iranian-negotiators\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Officials Believed Israel Was Plotting to Kill Iranian Negotiators"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">U.S. officials believed that Israel might have been plotting to kill Iran\u2019s top negotiators while Washington was engaged with Tehran in delicate talks this spring to reach an interim peace deal, according to current and former American officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">Killing senior Iranian leaders had been part of Israel\u2019s strategy from the start of the war. But American concerns about the targeting of two particular Iranian officials \u2014 Abbas Araghchi, Iran\u2019s foreign minister, and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/25\/world\/middleeast\/mohammad-bagher-ghalibaf-iran-speaker-parliament.html\" title=\"\">Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf<\/a>, the speaker of the Parliament \u2014 spiked during delicate cease-fire negotiations that began in April.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">Fearful that an Israeli assassination effort would doom the negotiations, the United States, according to some of the officials, went so far as to ask other countries in the region to warn Iran about the possibility Israel could target the two officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">U.S. officials acknowledged that during the intense phase of the war, Mr. Araghchi and Mr. Ghalibaf, as senior government officials, could have been legitimate targets for Israel, which was intent on toppling Iran\u2019s hard-line government. But after the negotiations started in earnest in April, American officials believed that any attempt to kill the Iranian leaders would end the talks and reignite the fighting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">The war began on Feb. 28 with an Israeli strike that killed the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other top officials, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/01\/us\/politics\/cia-israel-ayatollah-compound.html\" title=\"\">based in part on U.S. intelligence<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">While U.S. strikes focused on Iran\u2019s navy and missile forces, Israel <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/02\/us\/politics\/trump-war-iran-israel.html\" title=\"\">prioritized targeting the leadership<\/a> in the early phase of the war, intent on killing as many high-ranking officials as it could.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">That included killing potentially more pragmatic leaders that the Trump administration had hoped to negotiate with, such as Ali Larijani, Iran\u2019s top national security official, and Kamal Kharazi, a former Iranian foreign minister. Both men were involved in the negotiations with the United States when they were killed in Israeli airstrikes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">The Trump administration\u2019s suspicions about the possible Israeli plot to kill the two top negotiators show how the U.S. and Israeli war aims, which were close at the very beginning of the war, quickly <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/22\/us\/politics\/iran-israel-trump-netanyahu-mossad.html\" title=\"\">diverged radically<\/a>. And while the United States wanted a peace agreement, Israel has been skeptical from the initial cessation of hostilities in April.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">The initial two-week cease-fire in April was met with grudging Israeli official support and broad public concern in Israel that the United States was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/04\/09\/world\/middleeast\/us-iran-negotiations-israel-netanyahu.html\" title=\"\">ending the war too early<\/a>. Rather than being driven from power, the theocratic government of Iran had become even more hard-line and Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had only consolidated its control over the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">Mr. Araghchi and Mr. Ghalibaf have been the key officials negotiating with various countries in the region to reach a cease-fire and then a more lasting peace with the United States. In June, the United States and Iran <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/06\/14\/world\/iran-war-trump-us\" title=\"\">reached a framework agreement<\/a> that sought to open the Strait of Hormuz and set the outline for follow-on talks on Tehran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">Officials and commentators in Israel viewed the initial agreement as a disaster, because it did not accomplish <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/06\/18\/world\/middleeast\/israel-iran-deal-reaction-netanyahu.html\" title=\"\">their country\u2019s war aims<\/a> of forcing regime change, destroying Iran\u2019s proxy forces and seriously damaging its missile program. Israeli officials also worried the agreement would put billions of dollars into Iran, allowing it to quickly rebuild after the war and without meaningfully restricting its nuclear ambitions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">A spokeswoman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">Asked about Israeli plans and the warning to Iran, a U.S. official noted that talks between American and Iranian delegations continue and that Steve Witkoff, a special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president\u2019s son-in-law, had productive meetings in Qatar. President Trump, the official said, wants the peace process \u201cto play out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/livecoverage\/iran-war-us-israel-news-updates\/card\/u-s-and-israel-temporarily-remove-two-iranian-officials-from-target-list-uvJndklzulbrHy16yqYg\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The Wall Street Journal reported in March<\/a> that Israel had Mr. Araghchi and Mr. Ghalibaf on a target list, but temporarily removed them as the United States discussed beginning negotiations with Iran.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">A U.S. official and a Middle East official said that the Trump administration learned around that time that at least Mr. Ghalibaf was on an Israeli targeting list and asked Israel to refrain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">Mr. Ghalibaf was nearly killed in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/08\/30\/us\/politics\/israel-iran-assassination.html\" title=\"\">both the 12-day war<\/a> in June 2025 and again in this year\u2019s conflict, when Israel targeted a secret meeting of senior government officials in a bunker under a mountain, according to three senior Iranian officials and public comments by officials. In both incidents, Mr. Ghalibaf was rescued from under the rubble, the officials said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">\u201cToday Mr. Ghalibaf and Mr. Araghchi, and other members of the negotiating team, have put their lives on the line knowing the grave security risks and this is called a real sacrifice, not political maneuvering,\u201d Mohsen Zanganeh, a lawmaker, told local media in late April after the Islamabad meeting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">During the negotiations, Iran has taken precautions aimed at making it more difficult for Israel to strike at senior officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">In April, Mr. Ghalibaf was set to travel to Islamabad to meet with Vice President JD Vance. But Iranian security officials were concerned that Israel would use the opportunity to assassinate Mr. Ghalibaf or Mr. Araghchi to derail the talks, the officials said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">Iranians sought guarantees from the United States, through Pakistani and Qatari intermediaries, that Israel would not carry out any covert operations targeting the Iranian delegation, the officials said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">Pakistani fighter jets escorted the Iranian airplanes carrying a delegation of more than 70 Iranians from the border of Iran to Islamabad and back again when the session was over.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">But on the way back to Tehran, an Israeli security threat emerged.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">Iran\u2019s security forces notified the plane carrying Mr. Ghalibaf back to Tehran that they had picked up intelligence that Israel planned to attack the plane and that two Israeli fighter jets had entered Iran\u2019s airspace from its western border near Iraq, the two officials said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">Mahdi Mohammadi, a senior adviser for Mr. Ghalibaf, who accompanied him to Islamabad, confirmed this account on his social media page. The plane made an emergency landing in the city of Mashhad, Iran\u2019s closest airport to the Pakistani border, and the Iranian delegation traveled some eight hours by land back to Tehran, Mr. Mohammadi and the two officials said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">But the officials have continued to travel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-140ip4z e1me5xab0\">In late May, Mr. Ghalibaf and Mr. Araghchi flew to Qatar for talks and then traveled to Switzerland in June for a second in-person meeting with Mr. Vance and the American delegation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-f3337s erlrjdy0\">Aaron Boxerman<!-- --> contributed reporting from Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     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Tehran<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":87450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[2555,5735,9138,1528,99,9139,579,109,111],"class_list":["post-87449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us","tag-abbas","tag-araghchi","tag-ghalibaf","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-mohammad-baqer","tag-peace-process","tag-united-states-international-relations","tag-united-states-politics-and-government"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>U.S. Officials Believed Israel Was Plotting to Kill Iranian Negotiators - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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