Donald Trump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iran's supreme leader
US President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli plan, presented to the US, to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a US official.
The Israelis informed the Trump administration in recent days that it had developed a credible plan to kill Mr Khamenei.
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Donald Trump reportedly vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei(Niall Carson/PA)
After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Mr Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move.
The Trump administration is desperate to keep Israel's military operation aimed at decapitating Iran's nuclear program from exploding into an even more expansive conflict and saw the plan to kill Mr Khamenei as a move that would enflame the conflict and potentially destabilise the region.
Asked on Sunday about the plan during an interview on Fox News Channel's Special Report with Bret Baier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not directly address whether the White House rejected the plan.
'But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we'll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States,' Mr Netanyahu said.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would 'do what we need to do' (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Mr Netanyahu's office declined to comment on the reports.
Mr Trump's rejection of the proposal was first reported by Reuters.
It comes as the president issued a stark warning to Iran against retaliating on US targets in the Middle East while also predicting that Israel and Iran would 'soon' make a deal to end their escalating conflict.
Mr Trump in an early morning social meeting posting said the United States 'had nothing to do with the attack on Iran' as Israel and Iran traded missile attacks for the third straight day.
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'The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight. If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before. However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and…
pic.twitter.com/9F10xj1xU8
— The White House (@WhiteHouse)
June 15, 2025
Iran, however, has said that it would hold the US, which has provided Israel with much of its deep arsenal of weaponry, for its backing of Israel.
Israel targeted Iran's Defence Ministry headquarters in Tehran and sites it alleged were associated with Iran's nuclear program, while Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defences and slammed into buildings deep inside the country.
Mr Trump said: 'If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US armed forces will come down on you at levels never seen before.'
Hours later, the US president took to social media again to predict that 'Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal'.
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The US president made the claim that he has built a track record for de-escalating conflicts, and that he would get Israel and Iran to cease hostilities 'just like I got India and Pakistan to' after the two countries' recent cross-border confrontation.
Mr Trump also pointed to efforts by his administration during his first term to mediate disputes between Serbia and Kosovo and Egypt and Ethiopia.
'Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran!' Mr Trump said. 'Many calls and meetings now taking place. I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that's OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!'
The growing conflict between Israel and Iran is testing Mr Trump, who ran on a promise to quickly end the brutal wars in Gaza and Ukraine and build a foreign policy that more broadly favours steering clear of foreign conflicts.
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Mr Trump has struggled to find an endgame to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
And after criticising President Joe Biden during last year's campaign for preventing Israel from carrying out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Mr Trump found himself making the case to the Israelis to give diplomacy a chance.
His administration's push on Tehran to give up its nuclear program came after the US and other world powers reached a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement in 2015 that limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
Mr Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday about the growing Israel-Iran conflict, and he is set to travel to Canada for Group of Seven leaders summit where the Mideast crisis will loom large over his talks with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan and the European Union.
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