Trump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iran's Khamenei, US officials told Reuters

US President Donald Trump recently vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to two US officials who spoke to Reuters on Sunday.

One senior US administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained the reasoning behind the decision: “Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do, we’re not even talking about going after the political leadership.”

The officials revealed that American and Israeli authorities have been in constant communication following Israel’s large-scale strikes on Iran, which were aimed at crippling Tehran’s nuclear program.

During these discussions, Israeli representatives reportedly informed Washington of an opportunity to eliminate Iran’s top leader—but the plan was rejected by Trump.

While it remains unclear whether Trump personally delivered the message to Israeli leaders, the officials confirmed that he has been in frequent contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu throughout the crisis.

Read more: Trump predicts peace between Iran and Israel 'soon'

When asked about the Reuters report during an interview with Fox News Channel’s Special Report with Bret Baier, Netanyahu dismissed the claims of such conversations, stating:

“There are so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I’m not going to get into that. But I can tell you—we’ll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States.”

Trump, meanwhile, has continued to express hope for renewed US-Iran talks regarding Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. However, negotiations that had been scheduled to take place on Sunday in Oman were abruptly canceled due to the ongoing military escalation.

Speaking to Reuters on Friday, Trump remarked confidently, “We knew everything” about Israel’s operations against Iran.