
The administration of United States President Donald Trump had concerns that Israel could aim to eliminate two senior Iranian officials during sensitive ceasefire negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
This is reported by the New York Times, citing current and former American officials.
According to the report, Washington feared that Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, and the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, could become the target of an attack as talks intensified in April.
For this reason, the US administration asked several Middle Eastern countries to warn Iranian authorities about the possibility of Israel taking such action.
Sources cited by the American newspaper say that American officials believed that any assassination attempt on the negotiators, after the dialogue had entered an intense phase, would lead to the immediate cessation of the talks and risk a return to conflict.
According to the report, Washington had received information that at least Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf was included in an Israeli target list and had asked Israeli authorities not to take such action.
The New York Times also quotes Iranian officials as saying that Tehran had sought guarantees from the United States, through the mediation of Pakistan and Qatar, that the Iranian negotiating delegation would not be targeted during diplomatic meetings.
The report also mentions an incident that occurred in April, when the plane carrying Qalibafi from Islamabad changed its route and landed in Mashhad after Iranian security services had signaled the entry of two Israeli planes into Iranian airspace.