Tel Aviv: Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office on Friday rubbished a report claiming that officials of the United States feared that Israel might have assassinated
senior Iranian negotiators, including parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, during peace talks in Islamabad earlier this year. Notably, the report was published by The New York Times. “As usual, The New York Times' latest story about Israel and the Iranian negotiators is fake news. A complete fabrication of reality,” the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in an X post. Citing multiple US officials, the report said Washington alerted Tehran that Araghchi and Ghalibaf could be targeted by Israel in the weeks following the April 8 ceasefire. At the time, both Araghchi and Ghalibaf were key figures involved in Iran's diplomatic engagement with the United States over its nuclear programme. According to the report, some US officials believed Israel viewed the two Iranian leaders as legitimate targets amid its broader campaign against senior Iranian officials. It also claimed that, due to those concerns, US officials asked counterparts in other countries across the region to warn Tehran that Israel might seek to target Araghchi and Ghalibaf. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump agreed to meet in the United States in the near future during a phone conversation on Friday, according to a report by the Times of Israel, citing a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office (PMO). According to the PMO statement, Netanyahu congratulated Trump on the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States and said, "The US is what ensures the freedom of the world, and Israel greatly appreciates the tight bond between the nations." The statement added that "Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump agreed to meet soon in the US." The Prime Minister's Office did not provide a specific date or venue for the proposed meeting, according to the Times of Israel. Last month, a Brazilian journalist, Pepe Escobar, had made a shocking claim that Israel's intelligence agency Mossad plotted to assassinate Pakistan's military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and the entire Pakistani delegation in Switzerland’s Geneva. during US-Iran peace talks. Escobar made the sensational claim during a podcast by Mario Nawfal, a political commentator. “Pakistani military received ultra-credible information that the Mossad was preparing, under orders by Netanyahu, an assassination attempt against Asim Munir and maybe the rest of the Pakistani delegation going to Switzerland," the Brazilian journalist had said. Escobar had further claimed that upon receiving intelligence Pakistan warned Isarel against any action. Islamabad’s warning was conveyed through Oman, claimed the journalist. However, there is no official response from any of the countries on Escobar’s claims.
