Israel has destroyed any chance of success in US-Iran talks by pushing Washington to kill Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to former senior foreign policy adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marine Corps veteran James Webb.
In an exclusive interview with Afshin Rattansi’s ‘Going Underground’ on RT, Webb argued that Khamenei’s killing on February 28 – the first day of the US-Israeli campaign – was “indicative of the Israeli planning cycle” and ran counter to how the US government or military has historically operated.
Earlier reporting by the New York Times said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was physically present in the White House Situation Room during a key meeting with US President Donald Trump on February 11.
The assassination was “an Israeli move to effectively bloody the US and draw us deeper into the conflict, because when you do such a thing you don’t just remove the ability to negotiate state to state… you create essentially a blood feud between the two countries,” Webb said.
The status of Iran-US negotiations remains uncertain. Trump insisted over the weekend that talks would take place in Pakistan on Tuesday but Tehran has refused to confirm participation. Initial talks in Islamabad fell through earlier this month. Meanwhile, the US Navy recently seized an Iranian vessel, a move Tehran has denounced as a violation of the ceasefire. The two-week truce was agreed on April 7.
Webb went on to argue that Trump is not getting the full picture and is being heavily influenced by vested interests.
“Access is very restricted in the White House to the President. He is being walled off by certain interests, who in effect have been creating an echo chamber of their ideas,” he said, adding that this is evident in how the war with Iran has been conducted.
Check out the full episode of Going Underground, which airs exclusively on RT.