TEHRAN – U.S. President Donald Trump claimed responsibility for Israel's June aggression against Iran, walking back his prior denials of involvement and substantiating Iranian allegations that Washington had been complicit in the deadly war from its outset.

Trump made the announcement on Thursday in remarks to reporters. "Israel attacked first. That attack was very, very powerful. I was very much in charge of that," he said, adding, "When Israel attacked Iran first, that was a great day for Israel because that attack did more damage than the rest of them put together."

Although the U.S. publicly engaged in the 12-day war by employing its warplanes to attack three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22, the Trump administration had initially claimed Washington had no involvement in the Israeli attacks—a denial also made during Israeli strikes on Doha in September.

The war was launched against Iran even as the country prepared for a sixth round of nuclear negotiations with the U.S. in the Omani city of Muscat. Around 1100 Iranians were killed during the U.S.-Israeli aggression, most of whom were civilians. 

Trump’s remarks did not come as a shock to the Iranian public, which rarely differentiates between the U.S. and Israel. Iran’s government, however, acknowledged the admission, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei stating that the U.S. must be held responsible for the "atrocities" it committed.

“Remember when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared, on 13 June 2025, that Washington had no role in the Israeli regime’s act of aggression and terrorism against Iran?” he asked in a post on X. “That statement was an outright lie, of course; from the very beginning, it was clear that the United States was a full participant in Israel’s crime of aggression against the nation of Iran,” the spokesman added. 

Baqaei explained that Trump’s remarks stand as “an unambiguous acknowledgment of U.S. responsibility for a wrongful act and a serious breach of international law.”

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, has said that the 12-day war against Iran as a “clear and blatant violation of the UN Charter”.