United States intelligence agencies scrambled to warn Iran through regional intermediaries that Israel was actively planning to assassinate top negotiators Abbas Araghchi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mid war. The United States government intervened directly to thwart a suspected Israeli plan to assassinate top Iranian officials during highly sensitive diplomatic negotiations. According to newly uncovered intelligence details published by the New York Times, American officials harbored severe fears that Israel would target Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Washington feared that a successful targeted strike would permanently disrupt the diplomatic backchannel and trigger an immediate resumption of intense, open war across the region.
The diplomatic crisis unfolded during a sensitive round of negotiations when American intelligence agencies flagged active preparations for an Israeli operation. Seeking to preserve the delicate talks, Washington requested that several regional intermediary nations immediately pass an urgent warning to the leadership in Tehran. The highly unusual move intended to prevent a catastrophic escalation that would completely derail the international community's efforts to broker a sustainable ceasefire.
Upon receiving the secret American communications, the Iranian regime took extraordinary, immediate steps to protect its highest ranking diplomats and negotiators. The Islamic Republic heavily upgraded the security details for its entire traveling delegation, assigning robust military escorts and executing last minute travel changes to confuse foreign tracking assets. The extreme protective measures reflected the high level of credibility the Iranian leadership attributed to the American intelligence warning.
(Ed note: Israel reportedly operated covert military and intelligence bases in southern Azerbaijan 2012-2014 near the Iranian border, and was planning an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities when then one of Trump's two favorite Presidents, President Obama squealed on Israel and told Iran that the attack was coming. Obama also threatened to blow Israel's jets out of the sky. It looks like Trump just pulled an Obama on Israel. And still Iran continues to cry out, "Death to Israel, death to the United States.) (Read more)
