US believes that Israel plotted assassination of Araghchi, Ghalibaf — NYT

NEW YORK, July 3. /TASS/. Sources in US President Donald Trump’s administration believe that Israel could have plotted the assassination of Iranian negotiators, in particular Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, The New York Times (NYT) wrote.

The article says that in the very beginning of the US-Iranian negotiations, Ghalibaf was on the list of the Jewish state’s potential targets. When Washington learned about that, it asked Israel to refrain from trying to assassinate him.

Washington’s suspicions illustrate how the goals of the United States and Israel began to drift apart since the start of their joint military operation against Iran.

The newspaper says that prior to the negotiations with Washington in Pakistan’s Islamabad, the Iranian delegation requested from Washington guarantees that Israel will refrain from any clandestine operations.

At the same time, on the way from Pakistan to Iran, the Islamic Republic’s security services found out that Israel was plotting to attack a plane with Ghalibaf on board. To that end, two Israeli fighter jets entered Iranian airspace from Iraq. Because of that, the plane landed at the nearest airport and the delegation spent the rest of their journey traveling by land.