Israeli intelligence shared Iranian threats against U.S. president with Trump administration

Israeli intelligence shared with the Trump administration described a desire among elements of Iranian hardline leadership to target the U.S. president, according to an Israeli source and a U.S. official. The information did not include a specific, detailed plan to carry out such an operation.

The new commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was part of the group advocating for such a plan, the Israeli source told CNN. The commander has been included in lists of “obstructionists” within the regime who are viewed by the Trump administration as actively undermining negotiations, according to a source familiar with U.S. planning.

U.S. intelligence assessment Two U.S. sources familiar with the matter said recent U.S. intelligence assessments show no indication of a new, specific Iranian plot to kill the U.S. president, but rather a steady drumbeat of chatter about various Iranian actors wanting to do so.

The desire to target the U.S. president is not unique to Iran’s leadership. Mourners at the days-long funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by Israel in the opening strikes of the war in late-February, held signs calling on Iran to kill the U.S. president.

Israeli efforts to influence U.S. policy The intelligence sharing by Israeli officials comes at a time when Israel has been increasingly sidelined as the Trump administration grapples with how to end its war with Iran. Two Israeli sources say the Trump administration doesn’t want Israel involved in the fighting over concerns of losing control of the conflict.

One of the sources said the prevailing Israeli assessment is that the U.S. president does not want a return to a full-scale war and that the most he may be willing to do is to reinstate the naval blockade on Iranian ports. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been skeptical of Iran’s intentions in ongoing talks and has never believed Tehran was negotiating in good faith.