One call from Bibi, CIA confirmation and Iran's diplomacy refusal — What led Trump to attack Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's one call to US President Donald Trump may have been responsible for what's happening in the Middle East today, according to a new Axios report.

Last Monday, Netanyahu called Trump with a tip that reshaped the world — Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his top officials were set to gather at one location on Saturday morning.

According to the Axios report citing three people familiar with the call, Bibi briefed Trump that a single airstrike on this location could take down everyone at once.

This call became a key moment in setting off the war in Iran, which has since spread to several Gulf nations.

The report of the call answers longstanding questions of why Trump and Israel attacked Iran now — Khamenei and his associates had long been targets of both nations and they simply could not afford to pass up the opportunity.

The call on 23 February was part of the months-long intensive coordination between the two leaders. Trump and Bibi spoke over phone 15 times and met twice in two months, Israeli officials said.

Trump and Israel wanted to strike a week earlier than Saturday, but had to postpone due to intelligence as well as weather reasons.

The CIA had by Thursday “confirmed that these people were all going to be together, and we needed to take advantage of it,” Axios reported citing a person with knowledge of the matter.

On the same day, Trump's envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff told him that Iranian negotiations were hitting roadblocks.

“If you decide you want to do diplomacy, we will push and fight to get a deal. But these guys showed us they weren't willing to make the deal you will be satisfied with,” a US official with direct knowledge of the matter said Trump was told, Axios reported.

Trump was now convinced of two things — he had solid intelligence, and Iran was not budging in the diplomacy front.

Eleven hours later, Tehran was jolted with bomb attacks that killed Khamenei and other top Iranian officials.

US and Israel carried out coordinated airstrikes across multiple Iranian cities on February 28 targeted military command centres, air-defence systems, missile sites, and key regime infrastructure.

This resulted in the deaths of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and four senior military and security officials, with large explosions reported in Tehran and other major cities.

The war has since escalated, with Iran targeting major US bases in Gulf countries including Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. It has also closed the crucial Strait of Hormuz, blocking a major oil route.