U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that he was aware of Israel’s plan to launch airstrikes on Tehran before they occurred, but maintained that the United States was not directly involved in the operation.
Speaking to Fox News anchor Bret Baier, Trump stated, “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back.”
His remarks follow Israel’s unprecedented air assault on the Iranian capital early Friday, which resulted in the deaths of several high-ranking Iranian officials, including Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces General Mohammad Bagheri, IRGC Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami, and two nuclear scientists — Dr. Mohammad Mahdi Tehranchi and Dr. Fereydoon Abbasi.
Trump said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu several times over the past few days. While confirming that U.S. officials were informed in advance, he insisted that Washington did not take part in the strike.
Sources within the Trump camp also revealed that the former administration had reached out to at least one key Middle Eastern ally to notify them that the strike was imminent, stressing that it was an Israeli-led initiative.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry, however, has asserted that the attack could not have taken place without U.S. coordination. In an earlier statement, Tehran warned that the United States would be held responsible for the “dangerous consequences” of what it called Israel’s “adventurism.”
“The Zionist regime’s aggressive actions against Iran cannot have been carried out without the coordination and authorization of the United States,” the ministry stated, adding that Iran reserves the right to respond under international law.
Trump, meanwhile, said he is closely monitoring the situation and emphasized that the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is on high alert for any potential Iranian retaliation. “The U.S. is ready to defend itself and Israel,” he said, reiterating his hope that Tehran would eventually return to the negotiating table.
The former president also confirmed that in recent weeks, Washington had restocked Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. U.S. defense officials have since verified that multiple senior Iranian figures were killed in the Israeli strike.
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