- Minister Khatib does not immediately refer to any specific incident.
- “Those who act in this direction are agents of the enemy,” says Khatib.
- During the war, the United States vetoed an Israeli plan to kill the Supreme Leader.
Iran’s intelligence ministry has warned of attempts by foreign adversaries, including the United States and Israel, to attack Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and destabilize the Islamic republic.
The country’s ISNA The news agency reported on Saturday that Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib warned “the enemy is seeking to target the supreme leader, sometimes with assassination attempts, sometimes with hostile attacks”.
Although it was not immediately clear whether the minister was referring to a specific incident, and Iranian officials often claim foreign plots, statements about threats to Khamenei’s life had been rare ahead of a 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June.
“Those who act in this direction, knowingly or unknowingly, are infiltrating agents of the enemy,” Khatib added, referring directly to Israel and the United States.
During the conflict earlier this year, Israel targeted senior Iranian military officials, nuclear scientists and sites as well as residential areas, where the US later joined in attacks on key nuclear facilities.
Asked about reports during the war that US President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli plan to kill the supreme leader out of concern it would escalate the Iran-Israel standoff, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was dismissive but said the move would “end the conflict”.
At the time, Trump had also said that Iran’s supreme leader was a “very easy target” and that “we’re not going to take him out, at least not for now.”
He later said in a post on Truth Social that he had saved Iran’s Supreme Leader from “A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINOUS DEATH”.
The 86-year-old Khamenei has been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 and has the final say in all state affairs.
Earlier this month, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he was particularly concerned about Khamenei’s life during the war and feared the country’s institutions “would start fighting among themselves.”
In July, Khamenei said Israel’s attacks during the war aimed to weaken the Islamic Republic, sow “unrest and bring people to the streets to overthrow the system”.
A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in place since June 24, but both Israel and the United States have threatened new attacks if Tehran revives its nuclear program.
