TEHRAN – U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed responsibility for Israel’s June invasion of Iran, reversing previous denials of involvement and substantiating Iranian claims that the United States was complicit in the deadly war from the beginning.
President Trump made the announcement in remarks to reporters on Thursday. “Israel attacked first. That attack was very powerful. I was in charge of it,” he said, adding, “When Israel first attacked Iran, it was a great day for Israel because that attack did more damage than all the other countries combined.”
The United States publicly joined the 12-day war by using military aircraft to attack three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22, but the Trump administration initially maintained that the United States was not involved in the Israeli attack, a denial that was also made in September when Israel attacked Doha.
The war against Iran began as the country prepares for the sixth round of nuclear negotiations with the United States in the Omani city of Muscat. The US and Israeli invasion killed approximately 1,100 Iranians, most of them civilians.
President Trump’s remarks were not a shock to Iranians, who rarely distinguish between the United States and Israel. But Iran’s government acknowledged the confession, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bacaei said the United States must take responsibility for the “atrocities” it committed.
“Remember that on June 13, 2025, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the US government had no role in the Israeli regime’s acts of aggression and terrorism against Iran?”
Bakuayi explained that President Trump’s comments were a “clear acknowledgment of the United States’ responsibility for illegal acts and serious violations of international law.”
Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, said the 12-day war with Iran was a “clear and blatant violation of the UN Charter”.