US Officials Feared Israeli Assassination Plot Against Top Iranian Negotiators During Talks

According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, the American newspaper The New York Times, citing current and former US officials, revealed that during the discussions held last spring between the United States and Iran to reach a temporary agreement, there were significant concerns in Washington that Tel Aviv might attempt to assassinate Abbas Araghchi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Speaker of Parliament, and two prominent members of the Iranian negotiating team.

The report states that as negotiations, which began in April, progressed, US concerns escalated. American officials believed Israel might consider these two high-ranking officials legitimate targets during hostilities, but warned that their elimination at this critical stage of negotiations could lead to the collapse of talks and a resumption of conflict.

According to The New York Times, disagreements between Washington and Tel Aviv intensified at that time. While the administration of Donald Trump was attempting to pursue all diplomatic avenues to reach an agreement with Tehran, Israel was skeptical about a ceasefire and continuing negotiations in their early stages. Consequently, the United States requested several regional countries to convey warnings to Iran regarding a potential Israeli attack.

The report further stated that Israel and the United States temporarily removed Araghchi and Ghalibaf from assassination target lists for several days in late March to facilitate the resumption of negotiations. Since then, a ceasefire was established, a memorandum of understanding was signed, and contacts between the two sides continued.

Although the Zionist regime has so far refrained from providing any official explanation or comment regarding this revelation, it has never concealed its desperate efforts to assassinate senior officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran.