US Warns Iran of Israeli Plot to Kill Negotiators

American officials became concerned in April that Israel was planning to assassinate Iran’s top negotiators in a bid to derail ceasefire talks between Washington and Tehran, according to U.S. officials. The alleged targets were Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who were leading negotiations for Iran. Fearing such an attack would collapse the diplomatic process, the United States asked allies in the Middle East to warn Iran about the potential threat.

This episode highlighted a significant rift between the U.S. and Israel over the direction of the conflict, which began on February 28 with an Israeli strike that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior officials. While the U.S. sought a negotiated settlement, Israeli officials reportedly remained focused on eliminating Iranian leadership, having already killed potential negotiators like national security adviser Ali Larijani and former Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi in the war’s early stages.

The concerns over the safety of Araghchi and Ghalibaf crystallized during a diplomatic trip in April. While returning to Tehran from Islamabad, where Ghalibaf...