A confidential US warning sought to prevent covert attacks that could collapse sensitive talks. The alert highlighted risks to negotiators and intensified concerns about whether diplomacy can survive regional pressure.
According to two American officials, representatives of the U.S. administration sought to warn Iran about concerns that Israel could assassinate mediators during the spring talks.
Officials noted that the United States was concerned about the prospect of Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, who leads the negotiations with the United States, or Abbas Araghchi, who also serves as a public figure in the talks. The warnings were transmitted through intermediaries.
Context and Consequences of the Negotiations
It was noted that there were no immediate signs that American intelligence had a concrete plan that prompted the warning. The top Israeli defense official publicly expressed a desire to eliminate senior Iranian leaders, and the U.S. president had previously stressed that such efforts could complicate negotiations over the nuclear program and regional security.
I don’t want them killed.
– Donald Trump
Public statements by Israeli officials and actions in the region added to the tension, and both sides considered different scenarios of events during the series of negotiations.
The press service of the Israeli Embassy in Washington did not provide comments, and official requests from the U.S. administration went unanswered.
In the context of interstate relations between the United States and Israel, there were different views on approaches to Iran: Netanyahu expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of negotiations, while Trump considered some aspects of the process too cautious and could jeopardize reaching a deal.
In one of the candid exchanges in June, Trump allegedly expressed frustration over the possibility of an Israeli military strike on Lebanon, according to sources familiar with the conversation.
The administration closely monitored the activity of Israeli intelligence, which had stepped up its contacts with Iranian and American officials in recent months.
At the outset of the conflict, Israel carried out the elimination of a number of leading political and religious figures in Iran, including the Supreme Leader and his top national security official Ali Larijani – a move that carried weight for potential negotiations.
However, it later became clear that the campaign did not lead to the expected change of regime in Tehran, and the U.S. administration abandoned this tactic in favor of negotiations with Iran.
The possibility of striking Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf or Abbas Araghchi could have ruptured the delicate negotiations, the future of which remains uncertain.
Although there is a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran with a 60-day pause in hostilities, the main issues, including the fate of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, remain for future negotiations.
Even during this pause, tensions in the region persisted: Iran continued to escalate incidents along sea routes, and the United States responded to threats and, when necessary, carried out strikes on Iranian targets.
This material is based on information from several American sources and analytical materials that highlight the tense situation in the region and the maintenance of a negotiating course as the main instrument for resolving the crisis.
In summary, negotiations remain a key path to resolving the crisis, but their future remains uncertain as regional tensions continue to shape the context among the United States, Israel, and Iran.