ALBAWABA - U.S. and Turkish intelligence agencies did not confirm repeated Israeli warnings that Iran was preparing to kill U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a Reuters report citing current and former American officials.
The article said last year that Israeli intelligence began passing the warnings to U.S. agencies, including direct briefings to senior White House officials. The purported threats included a sniper attack, a knife attack at a public gathering, and subsequently a probable shoulder-fired missile strike on Trump’s plane.
The starkest warning came ahead of last month's NATO summit in Ankara, where Israeli officials said Iran could try to hit Air Force One following Trump's visit to Turkey, Reuters said.
But U.S. sources said the CIA could not independently corroborate the purported plots to assassinate, despite intelligence provided by Israel. Turkish intelligence allegedly came to the same conclusion in its own evaluation and told Washington it had no evidence to back the Israeli accusations.
Although the intelligence was not verified, the White House and the U.S. Secret Service are said to have implemented extra security precautions during Trump’s visit to Turkey, including a bizarre decoy maneuver in which the president was transferred from Air Force One to a different plane before leaving.
The episode has raised attention over the role of Israeli intelligence in molding U.S. policy toward Iran, especially as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to escalate.
Reuters said numerous U.S. intelligence officials have questioned the credibility of the Israeli findings, which depended heavily on Israeli sources and could not be independently validated thru American intelligence channels.
The controversy also exposes deeper differences between U.S. and Israeli intelligence assessments of Iran. Former U.S. officials told Reuters that until they can be independently corroborated, unsubstantiated allegations are routinely given a low trust rating by U.S. agencies, considering that Washington often relies on Israeli intelligence in the Middle East.
Israeli officials have been bypassing the usual intelligence channels and instead have been giving briefings directly to senior White House officials over the past year, the report said. Some U.S. analysts said the move was intended not only to share intelligence, but also to influence American policy toward Iran and the broader region.
