Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed Iran actively plotted to assassinate Donald Trump, branding the former US President “enemy number one.” In an interview with Fox News, Mr Netanyahu said Iran viewed Mr Trump as a direct threat to its nuclear ambitions.
Referring to former IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, he said: “They want to kill him. He tore up the fake agreement, killed Soleimani, and told them they’d never get a bomb.” Mr Netanyahu said he too had been targeted, with a missile striking the bedroom window of his home. He described himself as Mr Trump’s “junior partner” in confronting Iran’s nuclear programme, and accused Tehran of plotting a rapid expansion of its missile capabilities.
He added: “We were facing an imminent threat, a dual existential threat.
“One, the threat of Iran rushing to weaponise enriched uranium to make atomic bombs.
“Second, a rush to increase their ballistic missile arsenal to the capacity of 10,000 missiles within three years.”
The Iranian regime has strongly denied violating international law or targeting foreign leaders.
Israel’s ongoing campaign, Operation Rising Lion, was necessary to prevent “national destruction,” Mr Netanyahu said.
He insisted the strikes had significantly set back Iran’s nuclear programme and warned that diplomacy was “going nowhere.”
The interview follows Iran’s large-scale missile retaliation against Israeli cities, many of which were intercepted by Israeli defences.
Mr Netanyahu concluded: “We’re defending not just ourselves but the entire world from a regime that chants ‘Death to America’ and wants nuclear weapons in its hands.”