United States President Donald Trump has vetoed a plan by the Israeli government to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei amid ongoing military escalation between the Israeli and the Islamic republic.
Citing two American officials familiar with the situation, Reuters reported that Mr Trump dismissed the attempt by Israel to go after Mr Khamenei, who is the most revered figure in Iran, noting that the move is premature.
According to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Mr Trump ordered the Israeli government to avoid going after Iranian political leaders, adding that Iran is yet to kill any American.
“Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we’re not even talking about going after the political leadership,” one of the sources, a senior U.S. administration official, told Reuters.
Israel and Iran have targeted each other with a barrage of missiles for the third straight day on Sunday amid what the Israeli government called an operation to dismantle Iranian nuclear weapon capabilities.