President Donald Trump has rejected an Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This was stated by a senior US official familiar with the matter.
According to the official, Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime informed the Trump administration that it had developed a credible and well-planned strategy to eliminate Khamenei. But after receiving the information, the White House made it clear that Trump opposed Israeli forces carrying out the attack.
According to reports, the White House believed that such an attack would risk significantly escalating the conflict and destabilizing the entire region.
Killing Khamenei, who holds the highest political and religious power in Iran, could, according to the US, lead to an explosion of the conflict between Israel and Iran and risk drawing more actors into the conflict.
Part of the reason Trump vetoed Israel’s plan to assassinate Ayatollah Khamenei is that he recognizes that Khamenei is the main block against weaponization through his fatwa. If Khamenei is killed, the fatwa is also voided. pic.twitter.com/isI0e5AW73
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) June 16, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to confirm the allegations in an interview with Fox News.
– 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, he said. However, Netanyahu’s spokesman Omer Dostri later claimed that the reports of plans to kill Khamenei were “fake”.
Threat of retaliation
On Sunday, Trump issued a sharp warning to Iran not to attack US targets in the Middle East.
“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”, he wrote on social media.
At the same time, he predicted that Israel and Iran would “soon” reach an agreement to end the escalating conflict. Trump referred to his previous efforts to reduce tensions between India and Pakistan and between Serbia and Kosovo.
“Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran!” he wrote.
“Not the US’s job”
Trump’s line has provoked mixed reactions in the US. Libertarian Senator Rand Paul praised the president for showing restraint and warned of the risk of more war and bloodshed.
– It’s not the US’s job to be involved in this war, he said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
President Trump is leading the way on peace through strength, and I’m with him 100%.
If diplomacy fails, the U.S. must be all in to help Israel finish the job. pic.twitter.com/1PGeQjpOSO
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 15, 2025
However, the neoconservative and very pro-Israeli Senator Lindsey Graham demanded that the US join Israel’s war as usual if diplomatic negotiations do not produce the desired results.
– If that means providing bombs, provide bombs. If that means flying with Israel, fly with Israel, he said.
