US warned Iran Israel planned to kill 2 negotiators during peace talks

The US feared Israel would assassinate Iran's foreign minister and parliament speaker during sensitive peace talks this spring, a move that could have collapsed the diplomatic track and triggered renewed fighting, the New York Times reported.

"The concern was that any Israeli strike on these two officials would end the negotiations and restart the war," a US official told the Times, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The targets were Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who represented Tehran in talks with Washington after the first two-week ceasefire on April 8. Ghalibaf had already survived two Israeli assassination attempts — once during the 12-day war in June 2025 and again when Israel struck a bunker housing senior Iranian officials.

The revelation shows how US and Israeli war aims diverged after the initial campaign. While Washington pivoted to diplomacy, Israel remained committed to regime change in Tehran, setting the stage for a rift between the two allies that persists today.

The Islamabad Incident

In April, Ghalibaf was scheduled to travel to Islamabad for a meeting with Vice President JD Vance. Iranian security officials feared Israel might use the trip to assassinate the speaker or Araghchi and derail the talks, the report said. Iran sought guarantees from the US through Pakistani and Qatari intermediaries that Israel would not carry out covert operations against the delegation.

Pakistani fighter jets escorted the Iranian aircraft carrying more than 70 delegation members from the Iranian border to Islamabad and back. On the return flight, however, Iranian security forces warned the plane that two Israeli fighter jets had entered Iranian airspace from the west near Iraq, according to the report. The plane made an emergency landing in Mashhad, near the Pakistani border, and the delegation traveled about eight hours by land back to Tehran.

A Widening US-Israel Rift

The war began Feb. 28 with an Israeli strike that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, based in part on US intelligence. While US strikes focused on Iran's navy and missile forces, Israel concentrated on eliminating senior Iranian leaders — including figures the Trump administration had hoped might be useful in negotiations, such as Ali Larijani and Kamal Kharazi.

By June, the US and Iran had reached a framework agreement aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz — which handles about 21 percent of global oil trade — and setting terms for further negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. Israeli officials viewed the arrangement as a failure because it did not achieve regime change or seriously damage Iran's missile capabilities.

The last time Washington and Tehran engaged in direct nuclear talks was the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which capped Iran's uranium enrichment at 3.67 percent in exchange for sanctions relief. That deal collapsed after the US withdrew in 2018, and Iran subsequently breached enrichment limits, reaching 60 percent purity by early 2021.

Despite the security risks, the Iranian delegation continued international travel. In late May, Ghalibaf and Araghchi flew to Qatar, and in June they traveled to Switzerland for another in-person meeting with Vance. The talks remain ongoing, with the Trump administration saying it wants the peace process "to play out," according to a US official.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.