A phone call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to US President Donald Trump on Feb. 23 became a key turning point that led to the US-Israeli strike on Iran, which resulted in the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggered the ongoing war in the Middle East.
According to a report by Axios, Netanyahu informed Trump during the call that Khamenei and his top advisers were expected to gather at a single location in Tehran on Saturday morning. Netanyahu reportedly told Trump and his team that all of them could be eliminated in one powerful airstrike.
According to Axios, the call is significant because it was unreported until now and played an important role in setting the ongoing Iran war in motion. Three sources briefed on the discussion confirmed the details to Axios.
The Feb. 23 call is described in the report as a decisive moment that answered the question being asked by US lawmakers, supporters of Trump's MAGA movement and world leaders about the timing of the strike. The report states Khamenei and his inner circle were seen as a rare opportunity, and both Trump and Netanyahu did not want to miss it.
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Axios also reported that Trump had already been considering military action against Iran before receiving the new intelligence about Khamenei's planned meeting.
However, he had not decided on the timing until Netanyahu's call. The report also noted that in the two months before the war began, Trump and Netanyahu met twice and spoke on the phone 15 times as part of close coordination between the United States and Israel.
The US and Israel had earlier considered carrying out the strike a week earlier, but delayed it due to intelligence and operational reasons, including poor weather conditions, Axios reported, quoting U.S. and Israeli officials. Inside the White House, Trump directed the CIA to verify Israeli intelligence. An initial review confirmed the information about Khamenei's location.
Preparations for the strike then moved quickly. Trump informed Netanyahu that he was prepared to move forward, but first delivered his State of the Union address the following night.
Trump deliberately avoided focusing too much on Iran during that speech to prevent alerting Khamenei and forcing him into hiding before the strike could take place. By Thursday, the CIA had fully confirmed that Khamenei and other key figures would gather together, and officials believed the opportunity needed to be used, Axios reported quoting US officials.
On the same day, Trump's envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, called from Geneva after holding hours of talks with Iranian officials. They informed Trump that negotiations were not progressing. According to a US official quoted in the report with direct knowledge of the call, Trump was told that if he chose diplomacy, they would continue trying for a deal, but Iranian officials were not prepared to agree to terms that would satisfy him.
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Following this, Trump concluded that the intelligence about Khamenei's meeting was reliable and that diplomatic efforts had failed. On Friday at 3:38 p.m. EST, he gave the final order to proceed with the strike. Eleven hours later, bombs hit Tehran. Khamenei was killed and the war began. Behind the scenes, Axios reported that Trump viewed Netanyahu as a close partner and was open to his advice regarding Iran.
At the same time, Trump was determined to exhaust diplomatic options before authorising military action. A US official described the situation by saying one part of the administration was negotiating while another was conducting joint military planning with Israel, and Trump was continuously assessing both tracks.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected claims that the United States had been pulled into the conflict by Israel. Speaking on Capitol Hill, he said the operation would have happened in any case and that it was only a matter of timing. He described the weekend as a unique opportunity to act jointly against what he called a threat and said the goal was maximum success.
An Israeli official cited by Axios stated that Trump had earlier wanted to strike in early January but that Netanyahu had requested a delay. The official said the timing of the attack was fully coordinated and understood to be a joint operation.
According to the report, the original plan had been to strike in late March or early April to allow time to build public support. However, Netanyahu reportedly pushed for faster action. He reportedly told Trump and his team that Iranian opposition leaders hiding in safe houses were at risk of being killed by the regime.
Because of the accelerated timeline, the US administration did not spend weeks presenting a public case for war. Instead, it found itself explaining and defending the strikes after they had already taken place.
According to Axios, one official acknowledged that the case was not presented in advance as effectively as it could have been because the opportunity emerged quickly.
Another official cited in the report reportedly admitted there was confusion in messaging from Rubio and the White House, as arguments supporting the operation were made after the attack rather than before.
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Axios also reported that the secrecy surrounding the Saturday strike left many US citizens unaware of the risk. As Iran launched retaliatory strikes across the Gulf, some Americans were stranded in the region. The State Department, under Rubio's leadership, began an emergency evacuation effort for more than 1,500 Americans who requested help to leave. When asked why there had been no prior evacuation plan, Trump said events had unfolded very quickly.
Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter declined to comment on the details of the Feb. 23 call, but rejected claims that Netanyahu had pressured the United States or used threats to opposition leaders as justification to speed up the strike. He said Israel had worked more closely than ever with US partners over the past year regarding Iran and that both sides agreed on the level of danger. He also stated Trump is a strong leader who cannot be steered by others.
Trump, speaking on Tuesday, dismissed suggestions that Netanyahu influenced his decision. He said that while negotiations were ongoing, he believed Iran might strike first. He added that if anything, he may have forced Israel's hand.
The US President made the remarks during a media interaction at the White House on the occasion of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit. According to the report, the White House did not dispute the reporting by Axios and instead referred to public comments made by Trump and Rubio earlier on Tuesday.
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