Two U.S officials told Reuters today that President Donald Trump threw out an Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do, we’re not even talking about going after the political leadership,” one of the sources, a senior U.S administration official, told Reuters .
Separately, upon being asked about the reported plan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “I’m not going to get into that.”
Israel has a reputation of targeting and assassinating political and military heads of organizations she deems pose an existential threat to her.
Already in the ongoing strikes with Iran, New York Times reported that Israel has eliminated the country’s Army Chief of General Staff/deputy to Khamenei, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; Commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami; and Deputy Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, Gholamali Rashid; three other top generals as well as several high ranking scientists involved in the country’s nuclear enrichment project.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press (AP) reports today, quoting Washington-based human rights group, Human Rights Activists, that Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 406 people, wounding 654 since last Friday when the strikes began.
There has been no independent confirmation of the figures as Iranian state media reported far less.
AP said the rights group crosschecks local reports in Iran against a network of sources it has developed in the country, adding that the group is working to identify civilians and security services personnel among the victims.
World leaders have intensified efforts to get Trump to bring an end to the strikes so that it doesn’t escalate and destabilize not just the Middle East,but the world.
