Current and former United States officials believed that Israel might have been plotting to kill Iran’s top negotiators during sensitive ceasefire talks this spring, with Washington so concerned it asked regional countries to warn Tehran, The New York Times reported .
The newspaper, citing American officials, said the US feared that Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf could have been targeted as negotiations intensified in April . Officials reportedly believed any assassination attempt after talks began would have ended them and reignited the conflict .
The report said Washington learned that at least Ghalibaf had been placed on an Israeli target list and urged Israel not to proceed . According to the NYT, while both men could have been considered legitimate targets during the war’s most intense phase, once negotiations began in April, any such strike would have derailed diplomatic efforts . The report detailed an April incident in which Ghalibaf’s return flight from Islamabad was diverted to Mashhad after Iranian security forces detected two Israeli jets entering Iranian airspace .
It also cited Iranian officials as saying Tehran sought US guarantees, through Pakistani and Qatari intermediaries, that Israel would not target its negotiating team . The US and Iran ultimately signed a framework agreement in June, launching a 60-day round of negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program .
