Two Iranian officials have been temporarily removed from the US and Israel's list of officials to eliminate as the possibility of peace talks is explored, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing US officials.
Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were removed from the target list for up to four or five days, cited the report, as US President Donald Trump opens the door for negotiations.
Iran rejected the US's ceasefire proposal, claiming it to be "excessive" and saying that Tehran will end the war when it chooses and only if conditions are met.
Turkish, Pakistani, and Egyptian mediators have pushed for US and Iranian negotiators to meet, but officials said that the odds of success are low, citing major gaps between demands, said the WSJ.
The US has warned that the clock is ticking for Iran to come to the negotiating table. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that if Tehran doesn't agree to an end to the conflict, the US will hit Iran "harder than they have ever been hit before."
Many Iranian officials eliminated
Israel has eliminated many regime officials in airstrikes since the war broke out on February 28, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Security Chief Ali Larijani, and former intelligence minister Esmaeil Khatib.
As part of its "decapitation strategy", similar to the one used against Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel has threatened Iran with continuing to hunt down its top leaders, said the WSJ. On the other hand, the US has focused its strikes on military facilities, as well as missile launch and production sites.
Trump had previously stated that initial attacks in Iran had taken out many possible successors to the ayatollah, claiming that the US would have the upper hand when it came to negotiating peace.
“We killed all their leadership, and then they met to choose new leaders, and we killed all of them,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “And now we have a new group, and we can easily do that, but let’s see how they turn out.”