President Trump rejected a recent Israeli plan to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, three U.S. officials told CBS News on Sunday.
The Israelis had the opportunity to assassinate Khamenei and Mr. Trump conveyed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it wasn’t a “good idea,” one U.S. official told CBS News. They said the conversation between Netanyahu and Mr. Trump happened since Israel launched a massive attack on Iran last week.
Mr. Trump’s rejection of the proposal was first reported by Reuters.
A senior U.S. official told CBS News on Saturday that there has been no direct contact between the U.S. and Iran. An Israeli official in Washington, D.C., told CBS News on Saturday that there is regular contact between the U.S. and Israel, with leaders having spoken Monday, Thursday and Friday.
During an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Netanyahu did not directly confirm or deny Reuters’ reporting when asked about it.
“There’s so many false reports of conversations that never happened and I’m not going to get into that,” he said. “But I can tell you I think we do what we need to do. We will do what we need to do and I think the United States knows what is good for the United States and I’m just not going to get into it.”
Mr. Trump has not commented publicly on the report. On Sunday, he issued a stark warning to Iran against retaliating against U.S. targets in the Middle East.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump said the U.S. “had nothing to do with the attack on Iran” as Israel and Iran traded missile attacks for a third straight day.
“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,” Mr. Trump said.
Hours later, Mr. Trump appeared to predict “Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal.”
The president said he has 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 make” after the two countries’ recent cross-border confrontation.
Mr. Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday about the growing Israel-Iran conflict. He is also set to travel later Sunday to Canada for Group of Seven, or G7, leaders’ summit, where the Mideast crisis is expected to loom large.
Margaret Brennan
contributed to this report.
