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Published : 03 Jul 2026, 06:12 PM
United States officials believed Israel may have been plotting to kill two senior Iran negotiators during sensitive ceasefire talks this spring, The New York Times reports.
The American daily said concern centred on Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as Washington and Tehran entered serious negotiations in April over an interim peace deal.
According to current and former US officials cited by the newspaper, Washington feared any Israeli assassination attempt would collapse the talks and trigger fresh fighting.
The report says the US went as far as asking other countries in the region to warn Tehran that the two officials could be under threat.
US officials told the paper that during the most intense phase of the war, both Araghchi and Ghalibaf could have been considered legitimate targets as Israel pushed to bring down Iran’s hardline government.
But once negotiations gained momentum in April, American officials believed killing them would derail diplomacy.
The war began on Feb 28 when an Israeli strike killed Iran’s the then supreme leader Ali Khamenei and several senior officials, based partly on US intelligence.
While US strikes focused on Iran Navy and missile units, Israel concentrated on the leadership in the opening phase of the war.
That included the killing of senior figures seen as relatively pragmatic, including Ali Larijani and former foreign minister Kamal Kharazi, both of whom were involved in negotiations with Washington, according to the American daily.
The report says those developments exposed a growing split between US and Israeli objectives, with Washington seeking a settlement while Israel remained doubtful about ending hostilities.
A two-week ceasefire in April drew reluctant backing from Israeli officials and concern among the public that the war had been halted too soon.
Araghchi and Ghalibaf later became the main Iranian figures in regional diplomacy aimed at securing both a ceasefire and a longer-term deal with the US.
In June, Washington and Tehran reached a framework agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and set out further nuclear talks.
Israeli officials and commentators criticised that agreement, saying it failed to achieve their war goals, including regime change, weakening Iran’s regional allies and damaging its missile capabilities.
The New York Times said the Donald Trump administration learned in March that at least Ghalibaf was on an Israeli target list and asked Israel not to act.
Ghalibaf had narrowly survived two separate Israeli strikes -- one during the 12-day war in June 2025 and another this year when a bunker meeting of senior officials was hit, it added.
Iranian lawmaker Mohsen Zanganeh later said Araghchi and Ghalibaf had risked their lives by continuing the negotiations despite security threats.
The report says Iranian officials took extra precautions during the talks.
In April, when Ghalibaf was due to travel to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad to meet US Vice-President JD Vance, Iranian security officials feared Israel could strike the delegation.
Iran reportedly sought guarantees through Pakistani and Qatari intermediaries that Israel would not target the delegation.
Pakistani fighter jets escorted the Iranian aircraft to Islamabad and back.
But on the return journey, Iranian security forces warned the plane carrying Ghalibaf that Israeli fighter jets had entered Iranian airspace from the western border near Iraq, according to the report.
The aircraft made an emergency landing in Mashhad, and the delegation travelled eight hours by road back to Tehran.
Despite the risks, the officials continued travelling, with further talks held in Qatar in May and Switzerland in June, the daily said.
