President Donald Trump reportedly vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader during a high-level security meeting, Washington D.C., 2020.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, during his second term in office, reportedly vetoed a secret Israeli proposal to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to multiple intelligence sources familiar with classified discussions. The revelation, which has emerged amid current Israel–Iran hostilities, sheds light on a previously undisclosed moment of extreme geopolitical tension between the two allied nations.
According to senior officials, Israeli intelligence agencies had developed a detailed operation targeting Khamenei’s security perimeter in Tehran. The plan included drone strikes and cyber-disruption meant to create confusion ahead of a surgical assassination attempt. The proposal was brought to the Trump administration as part of ongoing U.S.–Israel intelligence coordination.
While the Israeli leadership reportedly believed eliminating Khamenei could destabilize Iran’s leadership structure and weaken its military networks, Trump firmly rejected the plan. He is said to have warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that such an act would ignite a region-wide war and likely provoke attacks on U.S. embassies and bases across the Middle East. Trump, known for his unpredictability in foreign policy, allegedly told his advisers, “This isn’t the way we win — this is how we lose everything.”
The decision came at a time when U.S.–Iran tensions were already strained, especially after the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike in 2020. Trump reportedly feared that targeting Iran’s supreme religious and political leader would exceed even that high-risk operation and trigger mass uprisings and retaliation not just from Iran, but also from allied non-state actors like Hezbollah and the Houthis.
The plan was ultimately shelved, but U.S. officials continued to monitor Israeli actions closely for any signs of unilateral moves. Sources claim the CIA and Pentagon were deeply concerned about Israel potentially going forward without American backing, and additional layers of oversight were placed on shared operational intelligence.
Israeli defense sources have not publicly confirmed the operation, but recent comments from former Mossad officials suggest frustration at what they perceived as U.S. reluctance to fully confront the Iranian regime. “There was a window to finish the head of the snake,” one former operative was quoted as saying off-record, “but the Americans shut it.”
As current tensions between Israel and Iran spiral into open military conflict, the resurfacing of this plan adds a dramatic backdrop to the question of how far each side — and their allies — are willing to go. Analysts say this moment highlights the thin line between strategic deterrence and all-out war, and the critical role U.S. decision-making plays in shaping outcomes in the region.
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