Following a request from Pakistan, the United States successfully urged Israel to remove Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf from its hit-list to preserve potential diplomatic channels amid the escalating regional energy and security crisis

In a dramatic turn of events within the escalating Middle East conflict, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf narrowly avoided becoming targets of Israeli precision strikes.

According to a report by on Thursday, March 26, 2026, the two high-ranking officials were removed from an Israeli "hit-list" following a high-stakes diplomatic intervention by Pakistan.

Who was targeted and why?

The primary targets were Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s chief diplomat, and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the influential speaker of the Iranian parliament. Both men are central to the Iranian government’s decision-making hierarchy. Israeli intelligence reportedly possessed the exact coordinates of both men and intended to eliminate them as part of its ongoing military campaign against the Iranian leadership.