United States President Donald Trump on Friday claimed to know that the attacks carried out by Israel on Iran were coming, reported Reuters. He gave the statement during a phone interview with Reuters stating, "We knew everything, and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out.”
"They can still work out a deal, however, it’s not too late," he added. The statement comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defined the attacks as “unilateral”. Trump had reportedly given Iran a 60 day-ultimatum to strike a deal on its nuclear programme. “Today is day 61,” he wrote on Truth Social platform. “I told [Iran] what to do, but they just couldn’t get there.”
The US president had reportedly pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay the strikes giving more time to diplomacy. However, after Israel launched the attacks, Trump voiced his support stating, “We have been very close to Israel. We are their number one ally by far," reported Reuters, adding, "We'll see what happens."
Two US officials also asserted on Friday that the US assisted Israel in defending against Iran's retaliatory attack reported Reuters.
The Nuclear Proposal
Israel’s offensive comes after uncertainties over Iran’s acceptance of the US's nuclear proposal with reports surfacing that Iran is still developing highly enriched uranium. Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei had earlier claimed that the nuclear agreement proposed by the United States was “100 percent” against the nation’s interest and objected to the clause of abandoning uranium enrichment on its soil.
He also stated that "Uranium enrichment is the key to our nuclear programme and the enemies have focused on the enrichment. The proposal contradicts our nation's belief in self-reliance and the principle of 'We Can'".
