Washington: President Donald Trump rejected a plan presented by Israel to the US to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a US official familiar with the matter.
The Israelis informed the Trump administration in recent days that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei.
After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move, according to the official, who was not authorised to comment on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Trump administration is desperate to keep Israel’s military operation aimed at decapitating Iran’s nuclear programme from exploding into an even more expansive conflict and saw the plan to kill Khamenei as a move that would enflame the conflict and potentially destabilise the region.
Asked about the plan during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report with Bret Baier”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not directly address whether the White House rejected the plan.
“But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we will do what we need to do,” Netanyahu said. “And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States.”
Netanyahu’s spokesperson, Omer Dostri, later called reports about the Israeli plan to kill Khamenei “fake”.
Netanyahu in the Fox interview also said regime change “could certainly be the result” of the conflict “because the Iranian regime is very weak”.
Trump’s rejection of the proposal was first reported by Reuters.
Meanwhile, Trump on Sunday issued a stark warning to Iran not to retaliate against US targets in the Middle East.
Trump in an early morning social media posting said the United States “had nothing to do with the attack on Iran” as Israel and Iran traded missile attacks for the third straight day. Iran, however, has said it would hold the US — which has provided Israel with much of its deep arsenal of weaponry — responsible for its backing of Israel.
“If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” Trump said.
Hours later Trump took to social media again to predict “Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal” and that it could come “soon”.
But as he departed the White House Sunday evening for the Group of Seven leaders summit in the Canadian Rockies, Trump was more tempered in comments to reporters about when the Israeli strikes and Iranian retaliation would wind down.
“I hope there is going to be a deal, and we will see what happens, but sometimes they have to fight it out,” Trump said.
The conflict is expected to loom large during his talks with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union.
The US president said he has a track record for de-escalating conflicts, and that he would get Israel and Iran to cease hostilities “just like I got India and Pakistan to” after the two countries’ recent cross-border confrontation.
Trump also pointed to efforts by his administration during his first term to mediate disputes between Serbia and Kosovo and Egypt and Ethiopia.
“Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran!” Trump posted. “Many calls and meetings now taking place. I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!”
There is a divide in Trump world about how far the president should go in backing Israel.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson are among the prominent backers of Trump who have argued that voters supported Trump because he would not involve the nation in foreign conflicts.
GOP Kentucky Senator Rand Paul praised Trump for having shown restraint and said he hoped the president’s “instincts will prevail”.
“So, I think it is going to be very hard to come out of this and have a negotiated settlement,” Paul told NBC’s “Meet the Press”. “I see more war and more carnage. And it is not the US’s job to be involved in this war.”
In an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation”, GOP South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said he preferred diplomatic efforts, but if diplomacy does not work, Trump should “go all in” on destroying Iran’s nuclear programme.
“If that means providing bombs, provide bombs,” he said.
AP
