Israel decided to kill Khamenei in November, defence minister says

JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel took the decision to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in November and was planning to carry ​out the operation around six months later, Defence ‌Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday.

Khamenei was killed in the first hours of the U.S.-Israeli air campaign that began on Saturday ​in the first assassination of a country’s top ​ruler by an airstrike.

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The joint air assault is nearing ⁠the end of its first week after opening ​salvos killed the country’s leaders and set off a ​regional war, with Iranian attacks in Israel, the Gulf and Iraq, and Israeli attacks against Iran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Already in November ​we were convened with the prime minister in ​a very tight forum and the prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) set the ‌goal ⁠of eliminating Khamenei,” Katz told Israel’s N12 TV news. The timing was set for mid-2026, he said.

The plan was eventually shared with the Washington and brought forward around ​January after ​protests broke ⁠out Iran, when Israel was concerned its pressured clerical rulers might launch an attack ​against Israel and U.S. assets in the ​Middle ⁠East, Katz said.

Israel has said its aim is to eliminate the existential threat it sees in Iran’s nuclear ⁠programme and ballistic ​missile project, and to bring ​about regime change. Iran’s rulers have so far shown no sign of ​relinquishing power.

Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Alistair Bell

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