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Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian has mentioned that Israel tried to assassinate him throughout final month’s 12-day warfare between the 2 international locations.
Pezeshkian made the declare in a video interview with American conservative media persona Tucker Carlson, throughout which he additionally signalled that Iran stays open to renewed diplomacy with the US over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.
When requested by Carlson whether or not Israel had tried to kill him, Pezeshkian responded: “They did strive, sure, they usually acted accordingly, however they failed.”
He mentioned the try occurred whereas he was in a gathering “discussing the methods to maneuver ahead”, and instructed Israeli forces had been tipped off by “intelligence by the spies”.
“They tried to bombard the realm that we had been holding that assembly,” he mentioned, with out providing specifics on the timing or how shut the assault got here to him. Pezeshkian’s feedback had been translated into English by an interpreter.
Israel started its offensive on Iran with devastating bombing raids by which it killed dozens of prime army commanders and nuclear scientists. The US additionally launched an assault on Iran’s nuclear services in the course of the warfare, which ended with a ceasefire final month.
In the course of the battle, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned that he may think about assassinating Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Nonetheless, US President Donald Trump claimed that he had intervened to forestall such an motion.
Khamenei, whose whereabouts in the course of the preventing had been unclear, attended a non secular ceremony over final weekend in his first public look for the reason that warfare started. His aides keep that he continued to direct the warfare effort and made key strategic choices all through the battle.
In the course of the interview with Carlson, Pezeshkian vowed to present “life and blood” for Iran.
Pezeshkian, who avoided accusing Washington of involvement within the alleged assassination try, didn’t rule out new negotiations with the US however expressed scepticism about their prospects.
Previous to the outbreak of warfare, Tehran had engaged in 5 rounds of oblique negotiations with Washington over the way forward for its nuclear programme. A sixth spherical was scheduled to start in Oman shortly after Israel’s assault.
“There is no such thing as a downside to restart talks with the US,” Pezeshkian instructed Carlson, however added: “How are we going to belief the US once more? . . . How can we all know for positive that in the midst of the talks the Israeli regime is not going to be given the permission once more to assault us?”
Whereas the Israeli and US strikes dealt extreme blows to the Iranian army and regime, there have been conflicting accounts of how far they set again Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Whereas Trump claimed the programme — which Washington warns may very well be weaponised — had been “obliterated”, the top of the UN’s nuclear watchdog mentioned final month Iran may restart uranium enrichment “in a matter of months”.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceable functions.
Pezeshkian levelled sturdy criticism at what he described as Israeli warfare crimes in the course of the battle. He mentioned that Israeli forces had focused army commanders whereas they had been off obligation, and killed nuclear scientists together with their households and different civilians.
“As a result of they wished to kill one individual, they needed to demolish and destroy an entire constructing and in consequence lots of people had been killed,” he mentioned.
Israeli officers mentioned Iran’s missiles additionally hit residential buildings in Israel. The IDF didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.