Israel has strongly refuted claims published in the United States that it had developed a plan to assassinate senior Iranian negotiators during the 2015 nuclear talks. The report, attributed to unnamed U.S. officials and citing intelligence shared with the United States, alleged that the Israeli government had considered a plot to kill Iranian diplomats involved in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiations. However, an Israeli official, speaking anonymously to Axios, dismissed these allegations as "fake news" and denied any such operational planning or intent by Israel during that period. The denial comes amid ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran.