US officials believed Israel plotted to kill Iranian negotiators: Report

WASHINGTON (MNTV) — Current and former U.S. officials believed Israel may have been plotting to kill Iran’s top negotiators during sensitive ceasefire talks this spring, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Citing American officials, the newspaper said Washington grew concerned that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf could be targeted once negotiations intensified in April.

The Trump administration was reportedly concerned enough that it asked other countries in the region to warn Tehran of the possibility that Israel could strike the two men.

U.S. officials believed an assassination attempt after substantive talks began in April would have collapsed the negotiations and reignited the conflict, according to the report.

The Times said Washington learned that Qalibaf, at least, had been placed on an Israeli target list, and urged Israel not to move forward.

Iranian officials, meanwhile, said Tehran sought U.S. guarantees — relayed through Pakistani and Qatari intermediaries — that Israel would not target its negotiating team during diplomatic meetings.

The report detailed an April incident in which Qalibaf’s return flight from Islamabad was diverted to Mashhad after Iranian security forces detected two Israeli jets entering Iranian airspace.

Israeli Embassy officials in Washington declined to comment on the allegations, the report said.

A U.S. official told the Times that talks between the American and Iranian delegations are continuing, and that President Donald Trump wants the peace process “to play out.”