Trump rejected Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader: report

Washington: President Donald Trump rejected a plan presented by Israel to the US to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Associated Press reported, citing a US official familiar with the matter.

Trump's rejection of the proposal was first reported by Reuters.

The Israelis informed the Trump administration in recent days that they had developed a credible plan to kill Khamenei.

After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move, according to the official, who was not authorised to comment on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Trump administration is desperate to keep Israel's military operation aimed at decapitating Iran's nuclear programme from exploding into an even more expansive conflict and saw the plan to kill Khamenei as a move that would enflame the conflict and potentially destabilise the region.

Asked about the plan during an interview on Fox News Channel's "Special Report with Bret Baier", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not directly address whether the White House rejected the plan.

"But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we will do what we need to do," Netanyahu said. "And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States." Netanyahu's spokesperson, Omer Dostri, later called reports about the Israeli plan to kill Khamenei "fake".

Netanyahu, in the Fox interview, also said regime change "could certainly be the result" of the conflict "because the Iranian regime is very weak".

Trump, in an early morning social media posting, said the United States "had nothing to do with the attack on Iran" as Israel and Iran traded missile attacks for the third straight day. Iran, however, has said it would hold the US -- which has provided Israel with much of its deep arsenal of weaponry -- responsible for its backing of Israel.

"If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," Trump said.

Hours later, Trump took to social media again to predict that "Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal" and that it could come "soon".