Israel attempted to assassinate Iran's negotiating delegation during ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran, according to newly revealed circumstances. The United States detected the plot in advance and delivered a warning to Iran through a mediating country, and the aircraft carrying the delegation made an emergency landing on its way home, it was reported.
The New York Times (NYT) reported this on Monday, citing current and former officials from the United States and the Middle East.
According to the report, Israel's assassination targets at the time were Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Iran's parliament and one of the highest-ranking figures in Iran's power hierarchy, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The two were core members of Iran's leadership who had survived earlier Israeli assassination operations, and they also led the delegation conducting ceasefire talks with the United States.
Because the two were central figures in the negotiations, the United States was concerned that if the assassination were carried out, talks would be halted and tensions in the Middle East could escalate again, it was reported. Accordingly, the United States asked its allies in the Middle East to convey the possibility of an Israeli attack to Iran, multiple U.S. officials said.
The United States had already recognized the possibility that Ghalibaf and Araghchi were among Israel's assassination targets as the war against Iran, which began last February, intensified. After the negotiations began in earnest, the United States judged that an attack on them could derail the talks themselves and requested restraint from Israel, it was reported.
The Israeli Embassy in the United States declined to answer related questions. A U.S. official said contact between the two delegations was continuing and that President Donald Trump also hoped the peace process would continue.
Escorted by Pakistani Fighter Jets, but Emergency Landing on the Return Home
Iran was also said to have been greatly concerned about the possibility of an Israeli attack during the negotiation process.
When Ghalibaf headed to Islamabad, the capital of the mediating country Pakistan, in April for talks with the United States, Iran was wary of the possibility that Israel could target the delegation while it was in transit. As a result, Iran sought to secure a guarantee through Pakistan or Qatar that Israel would not carry out a covert operation targeting the delegation, the NYT reported.
At the time, when the aircraft carrying about 70 members of the Iranian delegation, including Ghalibaf, entered Pakistani airspace, Pakistan deployed fighter jets to escort them from the border to Islamabad. After the talks concluded, the fighter jet escort continued in the same manner on the return journey.
However, an unexpected situation arose during the return. The Iranian military reported that it had obtained intelligence indicating Israel had a plan to attack the aircraft carrying Ghalibaf, and a warning was also delivered that two Israeli fighter jets had entered Iranian airspace via Iraq, the NYT reported.
In the end, the aircraft carrying the delegation was unable to fly to its destination of Tehran and made an emergency landing at Iran's Mashhad Airport, close to the Pakistani border region. The delegation then returned to Tehran after about eight hours of overland travel instead of by air, it was reported.
Negotiations Continue, With Follow-Up Talks in June
Despite these threats, Ghalibaf and Araghchi continued to lead the negotiations with the United States. According to the NYT, the two held a second face-to-face meeting in June in Switzerland with a U.S. delegation that included Vice President JD Vance, and continued follow-up talks after signing a ceasefire memorandum of understanding (MOU).
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) also reported in March that Israel had placed Ghalibaf and Araghchi on an assassination target list but temporarily removed them from the list as U.S.-Iran negotiations began. The NYT reported, citing U.S. and Middle Eastern officials, that the Trump administration was aware that at least Ghalibaf had been targeted and had requested restraint from Israel at the time.
We thought they were on the same side, but do the U.S. and China want Iran's ceasefire to go in different directions?
