US officials reportedly came to believe that Israel was actively plotting to assassinate Iran’s chief negotiator during diplomatic talks aimed at ending the 2026 Iran War. The target, according to the intelligence, was Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s lead figure in the negotiations. The alleged plot did not stay theoretical: classified US intelligence from late May 2026 noted that Israeli officials had lobbied the Trump administration to greenlight the killing of Ghalibaf and resume strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure.
What the intelligence actually said
The US-Iran dialogue had been facilitated through back channels involving Pakistan and other regional actors, with high-level talks convening in Switzerland in April and June 2026. US Vice President JD Vance was among the American officials involved in the process.
The 2026 Iran War itself had begun in February, when US-Israeli strikes followed the collapse of nuclear negotiations. A temporary ceasefire took hold on April 8, 2026, and the Switzerland talks represented an attempt to turn that fragile pause into something more durable.
Into that environment, Israeli representatives reportedly pushed Washington not just to reconsider the negotiations but to physically eliminate the man leading the Iranian side of them. The classified US intelligence from late May flagged this push explicitly, linking the proposed assassination to a broader Israeli goal: restarting strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure that the ceasefire had paused.
