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Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Israel attempted to assassinate him during last month’s 12-day war between the two countries, according to an interview released Monday.
“They did try, yes. They acted accordingly, but they failed,” Pezeshkian told United States media figure Tucker Carlson, responding to a question on whether he believed Israel had tried to kill him.
“It was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel,” he said, speaking through a translator from Persian. “I was in a meeting… they tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting.”
The alleged attempt came as Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign across Iran on June 13, striking military, nuclear, and civilian sites, and killing at least 935 people, according to the Iranian Health Ministry. Another 5,332 people were wounded.
The Israeli attacks came just two days before Iran and the United States were scheduled to resume nuclear talks, stalling efforts to reach a new agreement on Iran’s atomic program.
The war, which lasted nearly two weeks, also saw retaliatory Iranian drone and missile strikes that killed at least 29 people and injured more than 3,400 in Israel, according to data from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
A U.S.-sponsored cease-fire took effect June 24.
During the conflict, Israeli airstrikes targeted key Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. The United States also participated in the military campaign, bombing three nuclear sites, according to Iranian authorities.
On June 16, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to rule out a possible assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying such an act would “end the conflict.” Israeli media reported at the time that U.S. President Donald Trump had vetoed the move.
Iranian authorities also claimed that an Israeli plot to assassinate Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was foiled during the war.
In his interview, Pezeshkian accused Netanyahu of dragging the region into endless conflict.
“The U.S. administration should refrain from getting involved in a war that is not America’s war — it is Netanyahu’s war,” he said.
Pezeshkian said Iran remains open to resuming nuclear talks with the United States, but warned that renewed dialogue must be built on trust.
“We see no problem in re-entering the negotiations,” he said. “There is a condition… for restarting the talks. How are we going to trust the United States again?”
He added, “We re-entered the negotiations, then how can we know for sure that in the middle of the talks the Israeli regime will not be given the permission again to attack us?”
Pezeshkian said Iran would welcome U.S. investment if sanctions were lifted.
“There is no limitation and nothing preventing the U.S. investors to come to Iran and to make investments in Iran.”
In closing remarks, Pezeshkian warned the United States faces two paths in the Middle East: “peace or war.”
“U.S. President Mr. Trump is capable enough to guide the region towards peace and a brighter future and put Israel in its place,” he said. “Or get into an endless pit or swamp — and that is a war that Netanyahu wants the U.S. or its president to be dragged into.”"
Following the interview, Pezeshkian wrote on X: “I told Tucker Carlson: While we were negotiating in good faith at the request of the U.S., Netanyahu dropped bombs — literally — on diplomacy. Israel torpedoed the talks and killed peace. The world should remember who derailed the process.”
He also relayed a message from Khamenei: “American investors are welcome in Iran.” Pezeshkian added, “It’s not Iran blocking peace. It’s Netanyahu, again dragging the region toward war. The U.S. president can stop him.”
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