Iranian President claims Israel tried to assassinate him

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that Israel attempted to assassinate him by bombarding him while he was holding a meeting.

He also expressed his openness to restarting nuclear talks with the U.S.

The statements were made in an interview released on Jul. 7, conducted with U.S. conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.

This marks one of the first interviews the Iranian leader has given since the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June.

"They did try, yes. They acted accordingly, but they failed," he said in response when questioned whether he believes Israel tried to kill him. “I would like to tell you that I’m not afraid of sacrificing myself in defence of my country.”

Asked how he was certain of the attempt, he replied, “Of course, it was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life… It was Israel.”

“I was in a meeting… but thanks to the intelligence by the spies that they had, they tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting,” he explained, though he never specified whether the assassination attempt occurred during the 12-day war.

Israel targeting regime change?

Israel claimed that during the 12-day war, it killed over 30 senior security officials and 11 senior nuclear scientists.

As observed by The Guardian, a move to kill Pezeshkian, who was elected in July 2024, would highlight that Israel no longer just sought to deal a blow to Iran’s military leadership and nuclear programme, but its political leadership as well.

Israel did not immediately respond to Pezeshkian’s remarks. However, as quoted by The Times of Israel, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told reporters the same day the interview was released that “regime change was not a goal” of the war.

“We just wanted to challenge them and bring them to stop the exchange of blows,” he added.

Restarting nuclear war talks

In Carlson’s interview, Pezeshkian also said that he was open to dialogue with the U.S., though he questioned how Iran is to trust the U.S.

"How are we going to trust the United States again? 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?"

"I am of the belief that we could very much easily resolve our differences and conflicts with the United States through dialogue and talks," said Pezeshkian, who blamed Israel for the cessation of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks by starting the 12-day war.

He added that U.S. President Donald Trump is capable of guiding the region towards peace, or “get into a pit, an endless pit, or a swamp”.

“It is up to the United States president to choose which path," he said.

Nuclear facilities in Iran

While Iran has maintained that it does not seek to acquire nuclear weapons, The Times of Israel says Iran has enriched uranium to levels that deems to have “no peaceful application”. It has also prevented international watchdogs from inspecting its nuclear facilities, on top of expanding its ballistic missile capabilities.

Pezeshikian was asked in the interview if the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, would be allowed to return to Iran.

He replied, “We still do not know the extent of the damage caused to the nuclear sites. Access is currently not possible because they have been severely affected. Once access is restored, we can consider inspections.”

According to Al Jazeera, Pezeshkian ordered the country to cut ties with the agency on Jul. 2, having already passed a bill to suspend cooperation in the Iranian parliament, as well as gotten approval from the country’s Guardian Council for it. Previously, Iran had used restrictions on IAEA access to its facilities as leverage in negotiations with the West.

Though Iran maintains that it is committed to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), it has made clear its distrust of the IAEA since the start of the recent conflict.

It has cited the IAEA failing to condemn Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, despite the agency passing a resolution against Iran for breaching nuclear obligations the day before Israel’s attack.

“The IAEA’s silence in the face of these attacks, which are contrary to international law, has sown mistrust among the Iranians,” Pezeshikian told Carlson.

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Top image via Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran/X