Overview
- U.S. officials reported rising concern in April that Israel might target negotiators Abbas Araghchi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and they asked regional partners to quietly alert Tehran.
- The United States said it learned that Ghalibaf at least had been listed as a potential Israeli target and urged Israel not to carry out any strike.
- Pakistani fighter jets reportedly escorted the Iranian delegation to Islamabad and back, and Ghalibaf’s return flight diverted to Mashhad after intelligence said Israeli jets entered Iranian airspace.
- Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office has called the reporting a “complete fabrication of reality,” and no independent public evidence of a specific Israeli plot has been produced.
- The episode highlights a widening U.S.–Israel split over strategy, leaves negotiations fragile despite a recent memorandum of understanding, and shows how any attack on negotiators could quickly end talks and risk renewed fighting.