U.S. President Donald Trump.
| Photo Credit: AP
On June 12, U.S. President Donald Trump called on Israel, America’s closest ally in West Asia, not to strike Iran. “We are fairly close to a pretty good agreement,” Mr. Trump said, referring to a possible deal on Iran’s nuclear programme. The U.S. was still in talks with Iran. And both countries were scheduled to meet for the sixth round of dialogue in Muscat on June 15. “I don’t want them [Israel] going in, because I think it would blow it,” said Mr. Trump about the possible impact of an Israeli strike on the talks with Iran. Within a few hours, Israel launched its biggest air strike in Iran, hitting the Natanz nuclear facility and multiple missile sites, and assassinating the Islamic Republic’s top Generals.
Immediately after the strike, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. was not involved. “We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel,” he said. The attack raised questions on whether Israel went ahead against the wishes of the Trump administration.
Green light from U.S.
Two Israeli officials told Axios that Mr. Trump knew all along about Israel’s attack plans. When Mr. Trump’s team, led by Steve Witkoff, was engaged in talks with Iran, Israel was preparing for the attack, which was in the works for eight months. The Israeli officials said Mr. Trump and his officials were only pretending to oppose an attack in public. “The goal was to convince Iran that no attack was imminent and make sure Iranians on Israel’s target list wouldn’t move to new locations,” reports Axios. Israel carried out the attack after getting “a clear green light” from the U.S. And in the early morning, Israel killed three top Generals, including the commanders of both Iranian armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and at least half a dozen scientists.
Later, Mr. Trump said in a media interview that he knew about the attack. Asked whether the Israelis had given him a heads-up, he responded, “Heads-up? It wasn’t a heads-up. It was, we know what’s going on.” He said had given Iran 60 days to make the deal. “On the 61st day, they [Israel] attacked. Today is 61 actually, and it was a very successful attack,” Mr. Trump said on June 13. On the same day, in a Truth Social post, he said he gave Iran “chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest words, to just do it, but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done.”
He warned that more “brutal” attacks were coming and “Iran must make a deal before nothing is left, and save what was once known as the Iranian empire”. In effect, Mr. Trump was saying he was clearly aware of both the attacks Israel had carried out and the attacks it had planned. He wanted to use the Israeli strikes as an added layer of pressure on the Iranian government to come to the table and make concessions on the nuclear issue.
Threats to Iran
Iran’s immediate response was to reject the planned January 15 talks. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said talks with the U.S. became “meaningless” after the Israeli strike at its nuclear facilities. Iran responded to Israeli attacks with hundreds of ballistic missiles. The U.S. came to Israel’s defence, with U.S. air defence systems deployed in the region shooting down Iranian projectiles. When the air war between Iran and Israel escalated, Mr. Trump came up with a warning for Iran. “The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran. If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. armed forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” he said in a social media post.
Iran was careful not to escalate the war beyond Israel. Israel, meanwhile, established air supremacy in Iran and carried out widespread attacks. On August 15, Iran launched multiple attacks at Israel, targeting Haifa and Tel Aviv in which 8 people were killed and over 300 injured. While the conflict was spiralling out of control, Mr. Trump said Israel and Iran should make a deal, “and will make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make.” Mr. Trump referred to several conflicts, which he claimed to have de-escalated. “I do a lot, and never get credit for anything.”
Trump knew it
After Mr. Trump’s call for a deal between Israel and Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News that “regime change” could be an outcome of Israel’s war against Iran. Asked when did he tell Mr. Trump about the attack plans, Mr. Netanyahu said he was in “constant contact” with the U.S. President. “Obviously we informed our American friends and president Trump, our great friend, ahead of time. He knew about it.” On June 16, Israel claimed that it had total control of Tehran’s skies, and issued evacuation orders. Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said “Tehran’s residents will pay the price” for Iran’s missile attacks. A massive bombing of Tehran followed.
Published – June 16, 2025 09:24 pm IST