Joint US-Israeli Target List

The list is a bilaterally maintained register of Iranian officials approved for lethal targeting, operating under the framework of US-Israeli operational cooperation. Its existence, publicly confirmed for the first time, reveals a depth of pre-authorised coordination that extends well beyond conventional intelligence-sharing, arms supply, or diplomatic alignment between the two governments.

Pakistan asked the US on 27 March 2026 to press Israel to remove Abbas Araghchi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf from a joint pre-authorised targeted-killing list, the Wall Street Journal confirmed via US officials. The request signals that the list names senior political figures, not only military commanders.

The list complicates Pakistan's active Mediation effort between Tehran and Washington: sustaining indirect talks is difficult when named interlocutors face joint targeting authorisation. Under International humanitarian law, applying pre-cleared lethal targeting to civilian officials who hold no direct military command raises unresolved questions about lawful targeting criteria and the limits of bilateral kill-list authority.