Trump Signed Off on Iran Op After Netanyahu’s ‘Persuasive’ Pitch for Assassination Plot Revenge: Report

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

President Donald Trump approved the attack against Iran after a last-minute call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who framed the move as a rare chance to eliminate Iran’s supreme leader in revenge for allegedly orchestrating an assassination plot against the president, according to a Reuters report.

Less than 48 hours before the February 28 attack, the Israeli prime minister reportedly urged Trump to seize what officials described as a narrow window to target Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his inner circle. Intelligence had indicated the group would be gathered in Tehran, creating an opportunity for a so-called “decapitation strike.”

Three people briefed on the call told the outlet that Netanyahu argued there might never be a better moment to kill Khamenei as a way to avenge Iran’s alleged role in a 2024 murder-for-hire plot targeting Trump. At the time, the Justice Department accused a Pakistani man of attempting to recruit operatives in the U.S. as part of that plan.

Sources told Reuters that Trump had already approved the concept of military action but had not finalized timing or conditions, so the outlet could not determine how decisive Netanyahu’s intervention was.

Still, the framing, described by the officials as Netanyahu’s “closing argument,” according to Reuters, was one that they said Trump found “persuasive” as he weighed his final decision.

Trump ordered the operation, codenamed Operation Epic Fury, on February 27. The first strikes began the following morning. That evening, Trump announced Khamenei had been killed.

During one of his Iran operational briefings, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth quipped: “Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh.”

Responding to questions from Reuters, however, White House spokeswoman Anna ​Kelly did not address the call but said the operation aimed to “destroy the Iranian regime’s ballistic missile and production capacity, annihilate the Iranian regime’s Navy, end their ability to arm proxies, and guarantee that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon.”

Trump has since maintained the decision was his alone. Netanyahu, for his part, last week dismissed claims Israel pushed the U.S. into war as “fake news.”

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