Iranian Intelligence Chief Accuses US and Israel of Plotting to Assassinate Khamenei
Iran’s intelligence chief, Esmail Khatib, has made allegations that the United States and Israel have been conspiring to assassinate Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to the ISNA news agency, Khatib stated that foreign adversaries have targeted the supreme leader, sometimes through assassination attempts and other times through hostile attacks. This comes in the wake of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, which concluded with a US-brokered ceasefire on June 24. During this conflict, Israeli strikes resulted in several high-profile casualties.
Khatib’s claims also suggest that Israel is under threat from an ‘epidemic of infiltration and espionage’ within its own governmental institutions, citing the recent arrest of an Israeli Air Force officer accused of spying for Tehran. The intelligence chief further warned that those involved in such activities, whether knowingly or unknowingly, are acting as agents of the enemy.
According to Khatib, the intelligence breach, combined with Iran’s resolute stance during the war, points to significant shifts in regional power dynamics. Earlier this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed reports that former US President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Khamenei, asserting that such an action would ‘end the conflict.’ Trump had previously claimed that Khamenei was a ‘very easy target,’ stating that Washington would not ‘take him out, at least not for now,’ and later expressed on Truth Social that he had spared the Iranian leader from ‘A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH.’ Khamenei, who has held the position of supreme leader since 1989, retains final authority over all state affairs in Iran.