President Trump expressed his opposition to Israeli plans to kill Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, The Associated Press (AP) reported Sunday night, citing a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
The AP reported that Israeli officials informed the Trump administration that a credible plan was coming together to kill Khamenei, and the White House, in response, let it be known Trump was against the actions.
Trump on Sunday said “it’s possible” the United States becomes involved in the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, now into its fourth day of tit-for-tat aerial assaults.
“We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved,” Trump told ABC News.
Khamenei’s whereabouts are a carefully kept secret, however, Iran is known to have thick concrete bunkers deep underground, to protect both its leaders and its nuclear facilities. Israel has shown a stunning capacity for precision strikes, killing about 20 military commanders and at least 9 nuclear scientists since Israel first struck last week.
Israel’s opening salvo also targeted some of Iran’s main nuclear facilities, and marked its largest-ever military operation against its Middle East rival, also upending a push from President Trump for a nuclear deal with Iran.
The U.S. attempted to quickly distance itself from the strikes, which killed some of Iran’s top military leaders and at least nine nuclear scientists.
“Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Thursday evening.
Trump has been publicly supportive of Israel’s attacks, despite saying as recently as Thursday that Israel should stay out of Iran with US-Iran nuclear talks ongoing.
“I don’t want them going in, because I think it would blow it — might help it actually, but it also could blow it, but we’ve had very good discussions with Iran,” Trump told reporters at a bill signing ceremony. “I prefer the more friendly path.”
Iran quickly pulled out of planned talks with U.S. for Saturday. On Friday morning, Trump warned Iran’s leaders of worse destruction if they failed to make a deal restricting its ability to build a nuclear bomb.
“There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House.
