Latest news with #KhameneiAssassination
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Khamenei in hiding: How Iran shields its leader from Israeli strikes
Donald Trump is said to have already vetoed an Israeli opportunity to kill Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Pictured) since the conflict erupted on Friday. But Tehran's 86-year-old supreme leader will still be fearing assassination, hiding out in 'as secure a location as they can manage' as Israel continues to target high ranking officials with deadly precision strikes across the country, onlookers believe. Speaking on the BBC 's Newscast over the weekend, The Economist's defence editor, Shashank Joshi, assessed that Khamenei would likely avoid any public appearances as his remaining loyalists work desperately to keep him out of Israel's crosshairs. 'I think they'll be concerned that Israel has clearly penetrated them inside out, so they will be looking to all possible corners from how to keep him safe, perhaps moving him from place to place,' he said. Israel has already taken out top ranking officials including the chief of staff of the Iranian military and the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Chiefs (IRGC) since Friday. A strike killing Khamenei would be deeply controversial and create untold chaos within Iran's political system. It would also depend on Israeli intelligence being able to locate the supreme leader - and the air force to deliver the crucial blow. 'Operation Rising Lion', believed to have been years in the making, has seen Israel cripple entrenched nuclear facilities. But the Israeli Air Force (IAF) lacks the huge bunker busters to needed to destroy Iran's most elusive sites deep underground. Khamenei was last pictured in a televised address from an undisclosed location on Friday, June 13, standing between Iran's flag and a portrait of former supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the country through revolution in 1979. 'Given the current Israeli threat, the Israeli defence minister saying Tehran will burn if you attack our cities, Netanyahu's threat of regime change, the clinical precision attacks on the top generals [on Friday], I think it is unlikely Khamenei will risk coming out,' Mr Joshi told the programme. He cited the recent examples of Israel assassinating Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, and Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, in assessing that Khamenei would have 'legitimate' fears he is a target of assassination. While Israeli strikes so far have done much to undermine Iran's military and nuclear programme, removing Khamenei 'could cause total upheaval and chaos', he said. Two U.S. officials told Reuters on Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to assassinate Khamenei as both sides continued to trade blows. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said top U.S. officials have been in constant communications with Israeli officials in the days since Israel launched its attack. They said the Israelis reported that they had an opportunity to kill the top Iranian leader, but Trump waved them off of the plan. Trump has not commented on the report. Netanyahu did not directly confirm or deny the claims when interviewed by Fox News, but did say: 'There's so many false reports of conversations that never happened and I'm not going to get into that.' Israel has dealt significant damage to Iran's military capabilities since Friday, killing Mohammad Bagheri, the military's chief of staff, and Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the feared Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Then on Sunday, Netanyahu said that the IRGC's intelligence chief, Mohammad Kazemi, and his deputy had been targeted in a strike. The administration has not been overly shy about killing non-military figures, either; Ali Shamkhani, a top advisor to Khamenei, died from wounds sustained in Israel's initial attack on Friday, Iranian state media confirmed on Saturday. An Israeli official told CBS News that 'in principle', however, Israel does not 'kill political leaders'. 'We are focused on nuclear and military,' the unnamed official said. 'I don't think anyone making decisions about those programmes should be living free and easy.' Experts following the burgeoning conflict believe that the strikes on key figures in the country's military chain of command and its nuclear scientists suggest Israel is 'hoping to see regime change' in Iran. Michael Singh of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former senior official under President George W. Bush told Reuters that Iran 'would like to see the people of Iran rise up', adding that the limited civilian casualties in the initial round of attacks also spoke to a broader aim. Hours after Israel launched its first wave of strikes, Netanyahu appealed directly to the Iranian people, saying in a video address that 'the Islamic regime, which has oppressed us for almost 50 years, threatens to destroy our country, the State of Israel'. Israel's objective was to remove the nuclear and ballistic missile threat, he said, but added: 'As we achieve our objective, we are also clearing the path for you to achieve your freedom. 'The regime does not know what hit them, or what will hit them. It has never been weaker. This is your opportunity to stand up and let your voices be heard.' While Netanyahu has called for a change in Iran's government, including in September, Israel has not said it is actively interfering to bring about such a change. 'As a democratic country, the State of Israel believes that it is up to the people of a country to shape their national politics, and choose their government,' the Israeli embassy in Washington told Reuters. 'The future of Iran can only be determined by the Iranian people.' Iran fired a new wave of missile attacks on Israel early Monday, triggering air raid sirens across the country as emergency services reported at least five people had been killed and dozens more wounded in the fourth day of the conflict. Powerful explosions, likely from Israel's defense systems intercepting Iranian missiles, rocked Tel Aviv shortly before dawn. Plumes of black smoke rose into the sky over the major coastal city. The latest salvo comes after a weekend of escalating tit-for-tat attacks between Israel and Iran that raised fears of a wider, more dangerous regional war. Iran on Sunday said Israel struck oil refineries, killed the intelligence chief of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and hit population centers in intensive aerial attacks. Iranian parliamentarians are now said to be preparing a bill that could push Tehran toward exiting the nuclear proliferation treaty that binds it to cooperate with the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA. Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that Iran could leave the treaty, while reiterating Tehran's official stance against developing nuclear weapons. 'In light of recent developments, we will take an appropriate decision. Government has to enforce parliament bills but such a proposal is just being prepared and we will coordinate in the later stages with parliament,' the ministry's spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, when asked at a press conference about Tehran potentially leaving the NPT. The NPT, which Iran ratified in 1970, guarantees countries the right to pursue civilian nuclear power in return for requiring them to forego atomic weapons and cooperate with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the IAEA. Critics accuse Israel of hypocrisy over its stance on nuclear weapons. The country is believed to have nuclear weapons, but maintains a policy of ambiguity. It is not a signatory to the NPT and is not bound by the legally binding obligations of the treaty.
CBS News
6 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Trump opposed Israeli plan to kill Iran's supreme leader, CBS News sources say
Conflict between Israel, Iran enters uncharted territory as two rivals warn more could come President Trump opposed a recent Israeli plan to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, three U.S. officials told CBS News on Sunday. The Israelis had the opportunity to assassinate Khamenei and Mr. Trump conveyed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it wasn't a good idea, one U.S. official told CBS News. They said the conversation between Netanyahu and Mr. Trump happened since Israel launched a massive attack on Iran last week. Mr. Trump's rejection of the proposal was first reported by Reuters. A senior U.S. official told CBS News on Saturday that there has been no direct contact between the U.S. and Iran. An Israeli official in Washington, D.C., told CBS News on Saturday that there is regular contact between the U.S. and Israel, with leaders having spoken Monday, Thursday and Friday. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Iranian Leader Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images During an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Netanyahu did not directly confirm or deny Reuters' reporting when asked about it. "There's so many false reports of conversations that never happened and I'm not going to get into that," he said. "But I can tell you I think we do what we need to do. We will do what we need to do and I think the United States knows what is good for the United States and I'm just not going to get into it." Mr. Trump has not commented publicly on the report. On Sunday, he issued a stark warning to Iran against retaliating against U.S. targets in the Middle East. In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump said the U.S. "had nothing to do with the attack on Iran" as Israel and Iran traded missile attacks for a third straight day. "If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," Mr. Trump said. Hours later, Mr. Trump appeared to predict "Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal." The 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 make" after the two countries' recent cross-border confrontation. Mr. Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday about the growing Israel-Iran conflict. He is also set to travel later Sunday to Canada for Group of Seven, or G7, leaders' summit, where the Mideast crisis is expected to loom large. contributed to this report.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iranian supreme leader: US official
US President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a senior US official told AFP Sunday. "We found out that the Israelis had plans to hit Iran's supreme leader. President Trump was against it and we told the Israelis not to," said the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Earlier Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dodged a question about reports that Trump had asked his country not to kill Khamenei. "I'm not going to get into that," he told Fox News. "But I can tell you,... we'll do what we need to do, and I think the United States knows what is good for the United States," he said. The comments came as Israel and Iran exchanged another barrage of missiles Sunday, with residents told to seek shelter as booms were heard over Jerusalem, and aerial defense systems reportedly activated in Tehran. After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war fought through proxies and covert operations, the latest conflict marked the first time the countries have traded fire with such intensity, triggering fears of a lengthy conflict that could engulf the entire Middle East. It began Friday, when Israel launched an attack that has killed top military commanders and nuclear scientists, and struck military bases, nuclear sites and residential areas across the country. As Israel struck targets across Iran again on Sunday, Netanyahu vowed to make the country pay a "heavy price" for killing Israeli civilians. He also strongly suggested to Fox News that Israel had killed Iran's intelligence chief Mohammad Kazemi, saying it had recently "got the chief intelligence officer and his deputy in Tehran" as its jets carried out raids over the capital. Trump has insisted that Washington, a strong ally of Israel, "had nothing to do" with Israel's bombing campaign. But he also threatened to unleash "the full strength and might" of the US military if Iran attacked US interests, later urging the two foes to "make a deal." Trump stressed to ABC News Sunday that the United States is "not at this moment" involved in the military action, but said it was "possible we could get involved." He also said he would be "open" to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin being a mediator to resolve the conflict. dk-nl/aha
CBS News
6 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Trump rejected Israeli plan to kill Iran's supreme leader, CBS News sources say
Conflict between Israel, Iran enters uncharted territory as two rivals warn more could come President Trump rejected a recent Israeli plan to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, three U.S. officials told CBS News on Sunday. The Israelis had the opportunity to assassinate Khamenei and Mr. Trump conveyed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it wasn't a "good idea," one U.S. official told CBS News. They said the conversation between Netanyahu and Mr. Trump happened since Israel launched a massive attack on Iran last week. Mr. Trump's rejection of the proposal was first reported by Reuters. A senior U.S. official told CBS News on Saturday that there has been no direct contact between the U.S. and Iran. An Israeli official in Washington, D.C., told CBS News on Saturday that there is regular contact between the U.S. and Israel, with leaders having spoken Monday, Thursday and Friday. During an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Netanyahu did not directly confirm or deny Reuters' reporting when asked about it. "There's so many false reports of conversations that never happened and I'm not going to get into that," he said. "But I can tell you I think we do what we need to do. We will do what we need to do and I think the United States knows what is good for the United States and I'm just not going to get into it." Mr. Trump has not commented publicly on the report. On Sunday, he issued a stark warning to Iran against retaliating against U.S. targets in the Middle East. In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump said the U.S. "had nothing to do with the attack on Iran" as Israel and Iran traded missile attacks for a third straight day. "If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," Mr. Trump said. Hours later, Mr. Trump appeared to predict "Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal." The 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 make" after the two countries' recent cross-border confrontation. Mr. Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday about the growing Israel-Iran conflict. He is also set to travel later Sunday to Canada for Group of Seven, or G7, leaders' summit, where the Mideast crisis is expected to loom large. contributed to this report.
