In the run-up to America’s renewed strikes on Iran, timed during the week-long funeral rites for former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Israel reportedly passed fresh intelligence to the Pentagon warning that Tehran was once again plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump, according to US media reports.
The claim has added fresh strain to an already fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, pushing tensions higher just as the truce looked shaky.
CNN, citing a source, reported that Israel’s specific warning came through only this week, though a separate source told the network that American intelligence agencies had been picking up murmurs of such a plot for some time. What was new, they said, was the precision of the plan Israel flagged.
Not everyone in Washington is convinced, though. Some US officials have privately questioned whether the intelligence was shared partly to influence Trump’s thinking at a moment when he was weighing whether to escalate military action against Iran or stick with the ceasefire. CNN also noted that Washington has been unable to independently verify the claim and wasn’t tracking any such plot before Israel raised the alarm.
A threat that’s simmered for years
This isn’t a new fear for Trump. Iran has long vowed to avenge the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the senior Revolutionary Guard commander killed during America’s alleged role in a strike during Trump’s first term. That anger resurfaced visibly during the funeral processions for Khamenei and family members killed in the 28 February US-Israeli strikes, where mourners chanted for Trump’s death and held up a banner reading “We Will Kill Trump.”
Trump himself acknowledged the danger this week, telling reporters in Ankara during the NATO summit that Iran wants “to take out the US leader, me.” He added, “I’m on every list. I saw this morning that I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long.”
Trump and Netanyahu are back on speaking terms
The renewed warning comes as ties between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu show signs of thawing after a rocky patch. The two had fallen out of step over how far to take the Iran conflict, Netanyahu pushing to keep fighting until Israel’s broader war aims were met, while Trump leaned towards winding things down, wary of the economic fallout a prolonged war could cause.
That friction eased somewhat last month when the US and Iran agreed to their fragile ceasefire. On Thursday, the two leaders spoke again, with Netanyahu’s office confirming that Washington and Tel Aviv had agreed to keep up “coordination between the countries.” Trump reportedly also briefed Netanyahu on recent American activity in the Gulf.