Reports have shed light on the intense diplomatic manoeuvring that preceded the US military's recent strike on Iran, revealing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a final, forceful plea to President Donald Trump less than 48 hours before the mission began. According to the dispatch, while the Trump administration had already authorised a military operation in principle, the precise timing and the specific target list remained a matter of internal debate until that decisive phone call.
Netanyahu reportedly presented fresh intelligence to argue that the window was open for a "decapitation strike" against the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Israeli leader suggested that a rescheduled meeting of Iran’s inner circle provided a rare, perhaps unrepeatable, opportunity to eliminate the regime's top brass. He framed the strike not only as a strategic necessity to dismantle Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic capabilities but also as a symbolic act of retaliation for alleged Iranian plots against Trump himself.
By the time the call took place, Trump had already signed off on the concept of military action, but sources suggest Netanyahu’s "closing argument" acted as the final catalyst for Operation Epic Fury. The subsequent strikes, launched on 28 February, resulted in the White House announcing the death of Khamenei. Although the administration has gone to great lengths to explain that the goal was to "guarantee that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon," the fallout has been swift and far-reaching.
Both leaders have gone to great lengths to try to downplay the notion that the United States was pressured into the conflict, with Netanyahu dismissing the idea as "fake news" and saying "no one tells President Trump what to do." Nevertheless, the consequences of that choice are now being felt across the globe; Iranian counterattacks have rattled international shipping lanes and sent oil prices spiralling, leaving the region in a state of high-stakes escalation.
Also read: Iran vows ‘irreversible damage’ as Trump issues 48-hr deadline
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