It has been claimed that the US and Israel had planned attacks on Iran a week in advance, but postponed them due to operational failures and intelligence reasons.
“Elchi” reports that, according to high-level US and Israeli sources familiar with the matter, cited by the Axios news platform, the US and Israel were preparing to attack Iran on Saturday, February 21.
One official claimed the attack was not postponed due to unfavorable weather conditions, while another official claimed the delay was related to the US.
Therefore, the US postponed the attacks for operational and intelligence reasons, believing that “better coordination” with the Israel Defense Forces was necessary.
According to officials, the attacks targeted meetings attended by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his sons, as well as high-ranking Iranian officials, every Saturday.
It was reported that concerns among Israeli and US officials about Khamenei descending from his residence into an underground bunker increased from the planned attack date until the actual attack. A US administration official stated that it was a “surprise” that Khamenei did not enter his underground bunkers.
The delay of the attack was said to have provided additional time for negotiations between the US and Iran in Geneva, Switzerland.
An Israeli official claimed that the Geneva talks were only held to buy time until a new attack date, so that the Iranians would think “the diplomatic path is still open.”
Another Israeli official suggested that the talks were sincere and that if progress had been made in Geneva, the attack would have been postponed.
A US official claimed that after the Geneva talks, Iran did not accept the proposal presented by the US, and subsequently, the US and Israel, who had already completed their preparations for the attack, took action.
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