ALBAWABA - The U.S. government is closely watching what officials call an uptick in Israeli intelligence activities targeting both U.S. and Iranian officials amid rising tensions over U.S. diplomatic engagement with Tehran, CNN reported.
The report stated relations between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “became increasingly strained” during negotiations with Iran, with Trump believed to have thought that Israel was trying to undermine the diplomatic process. CNN also stated the two leaders had a heated argument over an Israeli military operation planned in Lebanon.
U.S. officials told CNN that Trump administration officials, through intermediaries, had warned Iranian officials that Israeli intelligence may attempt to kill key members of Tehran’s negotiating delegation. Those reported to be at risk were Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, both key figures in the discussions with Washington.
The article said Trump was against any operation that may disrupt negotiations, fearing murdering senior Iranian negotiators would certainly derail the already delicate diplomatic effort. Earlier this year, Trump refused to publicly identify Iran’s negotiators, claiming he did not want them to be targeted for assassination.
The New York Times separately reported that Ghalibaf had escaped two suspected Israeli murder attempts during recent battles with Iran. The publication further reported that the Iranian negotiation delegation was provided with a military escort by Pakistani fighter jets throughout its flight to Switzerland, and that security concerns on the return journey led the delegation to change its travel path before arriving in Tehran.
Eventually the Trump administration changed course, CNN said, after Israel’s program of targeted executions failed to achieve broader political change inside Iran. Washington, however, took a diplomatic path, concerned that more assassinations of prominent Iranian officials may undermine discussions and ignite a broader regional war.
