The NYT report maintains that Washington’s concern was so great that US officials asked several Middle Eastern countries to discreetly convey to Iran the risk that Israel would try to attack their negotiators. This in order to maximize security measures.

The concern arose since March, the note says. The NYT notes that when diplomatic efforts to negotiate a ceasefire began, The United States asked Israel to stop attacking Iranian political leaders considering that eliminating the interlocutors would make any negotiated solution difficult.

But In the United States there was fear that Israel would act on its own. Although Washington believed it had succeeded in getting both negotiators removed from a list of possible targets, US officials remained concerned that Israel decided to kill them anyway, something that would have ruined the peace talks.

The American newspaper reports that, during the trip Ghalibaf a Pakistan In April, Iranian authorities received information about an alleged Israeli threat against the plane that was transporting him back. Two Israeli fighter jets had allegedly entered Iranian airspace from its western border, near Iraq.

The device made an emergency landing in Mashhad the closest Iranian airport to the border with Pakistan, and the delegation completed the eight-hour journey to Tehran by road.

Following the publication of the report, the Israeli Government rejected the accusations and called them “fake news” and a “complete fabrication of reality.” He denied that there had been a plan to assassinate the Iranian negotiators.

The most delicate moment in the relationship between Trump and Netanyahu

For the international analyst Carlos Novoathe revelation reflects the episode of greatest tension between Washington and Tel Aviv since Trump returned to the White House in January of last year.

Although he rules out talking about an open crisis, he maintains that The relationship is going through an unusually complex moment for two governments that, in theory, should be fully aligned.

“I’m not saying there is a crisis, but there is an important discrepancy“, affirm a The Commerce.

Novoa recalls that, unlike the tense relationship between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu over the nuclear deal with Iranthe expectation was that the second term of Trump consolidate an even closer alliance with Israel.

“When Trump took office in January 2025, everyone thought he was going to be completely in line with Netanyahu, as was the case during his first term. Historically, Republican governments have maintained a very close relationship with Israel,” explains.

For his part, the international analyst Francesco Tucciprofessor of Political Science and International Relations at the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences (UPC), agrees that the news is consistent with the recent evolution of the relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv. He says that more than an isolated revelation, reflects that both allies have begun to prioritize different objectives in the Middle East.

“The information that has been leaked is plausible. It is something that may have actually happened because the two agendas have been separated for a long time.“says Tucci to The Commerce.

Add that Israel acts under a logic of realpolitikprivileging its own strategic interests, even when these do not fully coincide with those of the United States. This difference, he maintains, also suggests a lower level of trust between both governments.

“This shows that there is not a great level of trust between the North American administration and the Israeli government. Since the United States knows perfectly well what the Mossad“He may have decided to warn Iranian officials,” points out.

Why did Washington need to protect the negotiations?