Less than 48 hours before the US-Israeli strike on Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a crucial phone conversation with Donald Trump, discussing the timing and strategic justification for the operation.
According to reports, both leaders had been briefed earlier that week about a high-level meeting involving Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his close aides at a compound in Tehran. The gathering was seen as a rare opportunity for a potential “decapitation strike,” a strategy aimed at eliminating top leadership.
Fresh intelligence indicated that the meeting had been rescheduled to Saturday morning, narrowing the window for action. Netanyahu reportedly argued that this was the best chance to target Khamenei, while also pointing to past alleged Iranian attempts to assassinate Trump, including a 2024 plot linked to retaliation for the killing of Qassem Soleimani.
At that point, Trump had approved the idea of military action but had not finalized the timing or scale of US involvement. American forces had already been mobilizing in the region, with operational decisions influenced by intelligence inputs and logistical factors such as weather conditions.
Sources suggest that Netanyahu’s arguments, combined with the urgency created by the intelligence, played a key role in Trump’s final decision. On February 27, Trump reportedly authorized the military operation, described as Operation Epic Fury. The strikes began early on February 28, and later that day, Trump announced that Khamenei had been killed.
The White House stated that the objective of the operation was to dismantle Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, weaken its naval forces, curb its support to proxy groups, and prevent the development of nuclear weapons.
While Netanyahu denied that Israel pressured the United States into the conflict, Trump maintained that the decision was entirely his own. Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that retaliation was also a factor, referencing past threats against Trump.
There has been no official response from Iran’s representatives so far, as the geopolitical implications of the strike continue to unfold.
Recent Random Post:
