The behind-the-scenes details of the war being waged by the United States and Israel against Iran are still unfolding, as it expands and turns into a broader regional conflict.
On the Monday before the war began, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed U.S. President Donald Trump of highly significant intelligence, most notably that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his top advisers were about to meet in one location in Tehran on Saturday morning.
Netanyahu told Trump and his team—according to three sources familiar with the call who spoke to the American news site Axios—that they could all be killed in a single devastating airstrike.
The February 23 phone call, which took place from the White House Situation Room and had not previously been disclosed, marked a pivotal moment that ignited the war on Iran. Netanyahu and Trump reportedly saw Khamenei and his inner circle as “tempting targets they did not want to miss.”
Trump had already been inclined to strike Iran before learning of the new intelligence about Khamenei’s meeting, but Netanyahu’s call accelerated his decision.
The call was part of months of intensive coordination between Trump and Netanyahu, who met twice and spoke by phone 15 times in the two months preceding the war, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.
The United States and Israel had considered launching a strike a week before that Saturday, according to Axios, but postponed it for intelligence and operational reasons, including bad weather.
An initial review conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at Trump’s direction confirmed the intelligence gathered by Israeli military intelligence about Khamenei. Preparations accelerated after Trump told Netanyahu he would consider moving forward, but first had to deliver his State of the Union address the following night.
U.S. officials said Trump decided not to focus heavily on Iran during his speech, so as not to alarm Khamenei and prompt him to go into hiding before the strike.
By Thursday, the CIA had fully confirmed that “all these individuals would be together.”
That same day, Washington envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner called from Geneva, after hours of talks with Iranian officials, and informed Trump of a firm conclusion: negotiations had reached a dead end. This strengthened the U.S. president’s conviction to carry out military action. At 3:38 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, he issued his final decision.
Eleven hours later, bombs began falling on Tehran, Khamenei was killed, and the war began.
According to Axios, Trump viewed Netanyahu as a close partner and was fully open to hearing his advice on Iran, but was also determined to exhaust all diplomatic avenues first.
A U.S. official said, “One side was negotiating, while the other was drafting joint military plans with Israel. Trump was constantly evaluating both.”
Amid criticism suggesting that Israel had dragged the United States into the operation, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted on Tuesday that the operation “would have had to be carried out anyway,” and that it was simply “a matter of timing.”
Speaking to reporters at the U.S. Capitol, he said, “This weekend presented a unique opportunity to take joint action against this threat. We wanted to maximize our chances of success.”
The original plan called for a strike in late March or early April to allow the U.S. administration time to build public support. A U.S. official told Axios that Netanyahu pushed to accelerate the timeline.
Another U.S. official said Netanyahu began by “inciting and warning that Iranian opposition leaders hiding in safe houses were at risk of being killed by the regime.”
The accelerated timetable put the U.S. administration in an awkward position. Instead of spending weeks building a public case for war, the White House found itself justifying the strikes after the bombs had already fallen.
“We didn’t optimally set the stage in advance because the opportunity came very quickly,” the official said.
Another official acknowledged conflicting messages from Rubio and the White House, which began promoting the war after the attack rather than before it.
Because Trump and Netanyahu disguised their Saturday attack, many Americans were completely caught off guard and stranded in the region. The U.S. State Department quickly launched an emergency evacuation campaign for more than 1,500 citizens who had requested assistance to leave.
When asked Tuesday why there had been no evacuation plan, Trump replied, “Well, because everything happened very fast.”
For his part, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, declined to comment on the details of the February 23 call, but denied that Netanyahu had been “inciting” or that he raised threats to Iranian opposition leaders as a reason to speed up action.
Leiter told Axios, “Over the past year, we have worked more closely than ever with our partners in the United States regarding Iran, and we completely agree on the threat it poses to Israel, the United States, and the free world.”
The ambassador added, “Anyone who knows Trump understands that he is a strong leader who cannot be steered.”
Trump also rejected any suggestion that Netanyahu had made the final call, saying Tuesday, “We were negotiating with these extremists, and my view was that they were going to launch an attack. I was fully convinced of that. In fact, I may have pushed Israel to take a decisive position.”
On the Monday before the war began, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed U.S. President Donald Trump of highly significant intelligence, most notably that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his top advisers were about to meet in one location in Tehran on Saturday morning.
Netanyahu told Trump and his team—according to three sources familiar with the call who spoke to the American news site Axios—that they could all be killed in a single devastating airstrike.
The February 23 phone call, which took place from the White House Situation Room and had not previously been disclosed, marked a pivotal moment that ignited the war on Iran. Netanyahu and Trump reportedly saw Khamenei and his inner circle as “tempting targets they did not want to miss.”
Trump had already been inclined to strike Iran before learning of the new intelligence about Khamenei’s meeting, but Netanyahu’s call accelerated his decision.
The call was part of months of intensive coordination between Trump and Netanyahu, who met twice and spoke by phone 15 times in the two months preceding the war, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.
The United States and Israel had considered launching a strike a week before that Saturday, according to Axios, but postponed it for intelligence and operational reasons, including bad weather.
An initial review conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at Trump’s direction confirmed the intelligence gathered by Israeli military intelligence about Khamenei. Preparations accelerated after Trump told Netanyahu he would consider moving forward, but first had to deliver his State of the Union address the following night.
U.S. officials said Trump decided not to focus heavily on Iran during his speech, so as not to alarm Khamenei and prompt him to go into hiding before the strike.
By Thursday, the CIA had fully confirmed that “all these individuals would be together.”
That same day, Washington envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner called from Geneva, after hours of talks with Iranian officials, and informed Trump of a firm conclusion: negotiations had reached a dead end. This strengthened the U.S. president’s conviction to carry out military action. At 3:38 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, he issued his final decision.
Eleven hours later, bombs began falling on Tehran, Khamenei was killed, and the war began.
According to Axios, Trump viewed Netanyahu as a close partner and was fully open to hearing his advice on Iran, but was also determined to exhaust all diplomatic avenues first.
A U.S. official said, “One side was negotiating, while the other was drafting joint military plans with Israel. Trump was constantly evaluating both.”
Amid criticism suggesting that Israel had dragged the United States into the operation, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted on Tuesday that the operation “would have had to be carried out anyway,” and that it was simply “a matter of timing.”
Speaking to reporters at the U.S. Capitol, he said, “This weekend presented a unique opportunity to take joint action against this threat. We wanted to maximize our chances of success.”
The original plan called for a strike in late March or early April to allow the U.S. administration time to build public support. A U.S. official told Axios that Netanyahu pushed to accelerate the timeline.
Another U.S. official said Netanyahu began by “inciting and warning that Iranian opposition leaders hiding in safe houses were at risk of being killed by the regime.”
The accelerated timetable put the U.S. administration in an awkward position. Instead of spending weeks building a public case for war, the White House found itself justifying the strikes after the bombs had already fallen.
“We didn’t optimally set the stage in advance because the opportunity came very quickly,” the official said.
Another official acknowledged conflicting messages from Rubio and the White House, which began promoting the war after the attack rather than before it.
Because Trump and Netanyahu disguised their Saturday attack, many Americans were completely caught off guard and stranded in the region. The U.S. State Department quickly launched an emergency evacuation campaign for more than 1,500 citizens who had requested assistance to leave.
When asked Tuesday why there had been no evacuation plan, Trump replied, “Well, because everything happened very fast.”
For his part, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, declined to comment on the details of the February 23 call, but denied that Netanyahu had been “inciting” or that he raised threats to Iranian opposition leaders as a reason to speed up action.
Leiter told Axios, “Over the past year, we have worked more closely than ever with our partners in the United States regarding Iran, and we completely agree on the threat it poses to Israel, the United States, and the free world.”
The ambassador added, “Anyone who knows Trump understands that he is a strong leader who cannot be steered.”
Trump also rejected any suggestion that Netanyahu had made the final call, saying Tuesday, “We were negotiating with these extremists, and my view was that they were going to launch an attack. I was fully convinced of that. In fact, I may have pushed Israel to take a decisive position.”
