Israel decided to kill Khamenei in November, defence minister says

JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel took the decision to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in November and was planning to carry out the operation around six months later, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday.

Khamenei was killed in the first hours of the U.S.-Israeli air campaign that began on Saturday in the first assassination of a country's top ruler by an airstrike.

The joint air assault is nearing the end of its first week after opening salvos killed the country's leaders and set off a regional war, with Iranian attacks in Israel, the Gulf and Iraq, and Israeli attacks against Iran's ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"Already in November we were convened with the prime minister in a very tight forum and the prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) set the goal of eliminating Khamenei," Katz told Israel's N12 TV news. The timing was set for mid-2026, he said.

The plan was eventually shared with the Washington and brought forward around January after protests broke out Iran, when Israel was concerned its pressured clerical rulers might launch an attack against Israel and U.S. assets in the Middle East, Katz said.

Israel has said its aim is to eliminate the existential threat it sees in Iran's nuclear programme and ballistic missile project, and to bring about regime change. Iran's rulers have so far shown no sign of relinquishing power.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Alistair Bell)