Iran accuses U.S. and Israel of plotting to assassinate Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Khamenei threat claims escalate

Iran’s intelligence ministry has issued a stark warning about what it describes as foreign plots by the United States and Israel to target supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and destabilise the Islamic Republic. The comments were reported on Saturday by Iran’s ISNA news agency, which quoted intelligence minister Esmail Khatib as saying that “the enemy seeks to target the supreme leader, sometimes with assassination attempts, sometimes with hostile attacks”.

ISNA noted that Khatib did not specify whether he was referring to a particular incident. While Iranian officials frequently accuse foreign governments of plotting against the country’s leadership, explicit references to threats on Khamenei’s life had been rare before the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel in June. Khatib added, “Those who act in this direction, knowingly or unknowingly, are the infiltrating agents of the enemy,” directly naming Israel and the United States as hostile actors.

During the June conflict, Israel carried out strikes on senior Iranian military figures, nuclear scientists, strategic sites and residential areas. The United States later joined in with attacks on key nuclear facilities, according to reporting at the time. The confrontation fuelled speculation about potential escalation, including reports that Israel had considered killing Iran’s supreme leader.

Asked during the war about claims that U.S. President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Khamenei out of concern it would worsen the standoff, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a dismissive response. He suggested that such a move would “end the conflict”. Trump, meanwhile, publicly commented on the matter, stating that Iran’s supreme leader was a “very easy target” and adding, “we are not going to take him out, at least not for now.” He later wrote on Truth Social that he had saved Khamenei from “A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH”.

Ayatollah Khamenei, now 86, has held the position of supreme leader since 1989 and retains ultimate authority over all state affairs in Iran. Concerns within the government over his safety intensified during the June war. Earlier this month, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said he had been particularly worried about Khamenei’s wellbeing and feared that Iranian institutions “would start fighting among each other” if anything happened to him.

In comments made in July, Khamenei said Israel’s wartime attacks were designed to weaken the Islamic Republic, create “unrest and bring people into the streets to overthrow the system”. Although a ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in place since 24 June, both Washington and Tel Aviv have warned that they may resume strikes should Tehran restart elements of its nuclear programme.