Israel minister says Iran leader Khamenei ‘can no longer be allowed to exist’ after hospital hit

When asked about Khamenei on a visit to Beersheba on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “I have made it clear that no one is immune.”

But he added: “In war, I believe one must choose words carefully and execute actions with precision.”

A senior United States official told AFP on Sunday that President Donald Trump had “found out that the Israelis had plans to hit Iran’s supreme leader”.

“President Trump was against it and we told the Israelis not to,” said the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Netanyahu has neither confirmed nor denied the claim.

In a television interview on Monday, he did not rule it out, saying that killing the 86-year-old cleric who has ruled Iran since 1989 would “end the conflict” between the two countries.

Trump wrote on Tuesday that the US knew Khamenei’s location but would not kill him “for now”.

Israel launched strikes on Iran last Friday in what it said was an 11th-hour move to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.

It has since hit hundreds of targets, including military commanders, top nuclear scientists and military and nuclear facilities.