And just like that, Washington is very close to involvement in yet another half-baked regime change war in the Middle East, as Israel has been requesting United Statess direct involvement in the Israeli aerial campaign against Iran. Crucially, Reuters has revealed Sunday that President Trump vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, citing two unnamed US officials.
"Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we're not even talking about going after the political leadership," said one of the sources, only identified by Reuters as a senior US administration official.
On Sunday Israel struck the Iranian Ministry of Justice building in Iran, and has clearly been targeting the country's top military leadership...
According to a key revelation in the new Reuters report:
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said top U.S. officials have been in constant communications with Israeli officials in the days since Israel launched a massive attack on Iran in a bid to halt its nuclear program.
They said the Israelis reported that they had an opportunity to kill the top Iranian leader, but Trump waved them off of the plan.
The officials would not say whether Trump himself delivered the message. But Trump has been in frequent communications with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested the reports are not accurate, but did not refute the specifics. He only said in a Sunday media interview, "But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we'll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States."
Trump on Friday claimed that the US "knew everything" about the Israeli attack on Iran before it happened, which does seem consistent with the fact that last week the US began evacuating non-essential embassy staffers and their families from diplomatic compounds in Iraq, Kuwait, and Bahrain.
The Israelis are waging what is likely a full war for regime change against the Islamic Republic, and not just the degradation of nuclear facilities, and Tel Aviv is now actively trying to drag Washington into it. Will Trump cave to the demands for US intervention?