Israel Shares Intel with US on Alleged Iran Plot to Kill Trump

Israel reportedly shared intelligence with the U.S. about potential plans by Iran to kill President Donald Trump.

The news about the alleged plot, reported by The Wall Street Journal and CNN, comes at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with both sides trading strikes in recent days.

The Independent has contacted Iran’s mission to the United Nations and the Israeli embassy in Washington for comment.

When asked by The Independent about the alleged intelligence tip, the White House pointed to President Trump’s comments yesterday claiming that he was under threat from Iran.

“They want to take out the U.S. leader — me,” Trump said. “I’m on whatever list. I saw this morning I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long. These are evil, sick people. And we have to root out that cancer. That cancer. You know what you do? You’ve got to cut out cancer early. And that’s the way I feel.”

The details of the plot Israel had warned about were not immediately clear, CNN reported.

Officials familiar with the intelligence dialogue told CNN that the U.S. had not vetted the alleged Iranian plot and suggested the warning could be viewed in part as an effort to sway the Trump administration towards Israel’s perspective on the war. The relationship between Israel and the U.S. has been impacted in recent weeks as they disagree over the future of the Iran war, the Post reports.

On his way back from the NATO summit in Turkey, President Trump reportedly switched planes out of security concerns related to the war.

“As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal — including distraction and misdirection — to address those threats,” White House communications director Steven Cheung told The Hill.

The White House initially described the switch as part of an effort to send the new, Qatar-donated Air Force One for a visit with U.S. service members at a base in England.

Israeli leaders were reportedly blindsided and angered by the Trump administration’s now-shattered peace deal with Tehran, and the White House has in recent weeks openly criticized Israeli tactics, a rarity in the usually close alliance.

In addition to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the peace deal had called for a pause in related fighting in Lebanon, where Israel has been battling the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, and the tentative agreement opened the door for Iran’s existing regime to eventually get sanctions relief.

Iran has long vowed to avenge Qassem Soleimani, a top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general that Trump had killed in his first term.

The U.S.-Israeli campaign has continued to target Iranian leaders throughout the war, most notably assassinating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the longtime supreme leader of Iran, in February.

U.S. officials also feared Israel was plotting to kill Iranian negotiators during peace talks this spring, The New York Times reported last week.

Their concerns were so pronounced, the paper reported, that the U.S. allegedly asked other countries in the region to warn Iran that Israel might be targeting Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Parliament.