The CIA has given Israel a short list of five to ten senior Iranian officials who should not be assassinated, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
1+According to the report, these are figures within the Iranian system who American intelligence believes could play a central role in the country’s future. The interpretation given is that Washington assesses some of these officials could be integrated into a future Iranian government structure.
The report further claims that the very act of passing the list to Israel may indicate that the U.S. intelligence community is already identifying certain figures within Iran’s power structure as potential leaders in the event of a regime change.
1+According to that interpretation, the goal is to preserve figures the U.S. sees as potentially taking part in a different Iran—one that would act in a more moderate and normalized way toward the West.