US says Trump vetoed Israeli strike on Khamenei

What happened

Iranian missiles struck the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa Monday morning after Israel bombarded Tehran, pushing the escalating fight between the longtime regional foes into a fourth day. Israeli strikes have killed at least 10 Iranian generals and several nuclear scientists. But President Donald Trump stopped Israel from assassinating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, U.S. officials told The Associated Press and Reuters on Sunday. Iran said Israeli strikes have killed at least 224 people since Friday while Israel put its death toll at 24.

Who said what

Israel told the U.S. it had a credible shot at killing Khamenei, "but Trump waved them off of the plan," Reuters said. "Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No," a senior U.S. official told the news service. "Until they do, we're not even talking about going after the political leadership." The White House has been "desperate to keep Israel's military operation" from "exploding into an even more expansive conflict," the AP said.

Israeli officials called the Khamenei report "fake news" and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News there were "a lot of false reports about conversations that didn't take place." But "we'll do what we need to do," he told anchor Bret Baier, and regime change "could certainly be the result" of the conflict because Iran's government "is very weak."

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What next?

"I hope there is going to be a deal" between Israel and Iran, Trump told reporters before departing yesterday evening for a G7 summit in Canada, "and we'll see what happens, but sometimes they have to fight it out." Iran told mediators in Qatar and Oman they "will not negotiate while under attack," an official told Reuters.