RT.com
20 Apr 2026, 20:06 GMT+10
The killing of Ayatollah Khamenei has made talks between Washington and Tehran impossible, James Webb said in an interview with Going Underground
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.
Get a daily dose of Iran Herald news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Iran Herald.
More InformationNEW YORK CITY, New York: Air Canada will suspend flights to New York's JFK International Airport for nearly five months as soaring...
CAIRO, Egypt: Egypt's Talaat Moustafa Group has unveiled plans to develop a US$27 billion mixed-use city east of Cairo, marking one...
NEW YORK CITY/SAN FRANCISCO: Meta Platforms is set to begin a major round of layoffs on May 20 as part of a broader restructuring tied...
BEIJING, China: Apple recorded a sharp rise in iPhone shipments in China in the first quarter, outperforming rivals even as the broader...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: A federal investigation into the Federal Reserve's US$2.5 billion headquarters renovation intensified this week after...
LOS ANGELES, California: Netflix shares fell sharply in premarket trading after co-founder and chairman Reed Hastings announced he...
CAIRO, Egypt: Egypt's Talaat Moustafa Group has unveiled plans to develop a US$27 billion mixed-use city east of Cairo, marking one...
LONDON, U.K.: The war in Iran has erased more than US$50 billion in global oil output in less than two months, creating one of the...
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A deepening jet fuel crunch linked to the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is raising fears...
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: After many hours of sirens in northern Israel mid-week, people felt an unusual calm later in the week as the ceasefire...
HOUSTON, Texas: A sharp disruption to Middle East oil flows has pushed the United States to the brink of becoming a net crude exporter...
GAZA CITY, GAZA—Three-year-old Yahya Al-Malahi lay on a metal table in the morgue of Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Family members...
