The U.S. has repeatedly denied involvement in Israel’s initial attack against Iran—a position that Iran has disputed as missiles continue to fly between the two countries and the risk of further escalation looms should the world’s biggest military be pulled into the fight, which has already killed hundreds and wounded more than a thousand since Friday in Iran and killed 19 and injured hundreds in Israel, as of Monday morning.
A number of reports, however, suggest that the U.S. may have played a greater role than has officially been admitted.
Unnamed U.S. officials told multiple news outlets on Sunday that President Donald Trump rejected an Israeli plan to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Have the Iranians killed an American yet? No. Until they do we’re not even talking about going after the political leadership,” one official told Reuters.
Israel has denied such a plan, but the reported rejection by Trump would indicate some amount of coordination between the U.S. and Israel.
The attack on Iran came amid protracted talks between the U.S. and Iran centered around Iran’s nuclear program. Trump has emphasized finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict, touting his self-professed ability to broker peace, but Iran and Israel have so far shrugged off international calls for deescalation as both sides launched new attacks early Monday.
Iran has vowed to retaliate against the U.S., too, while Trump has warned: “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.”
Here’s what to know about U.S. involvement so far.
“Nothing to do with the attack”
Israel launched its attacks, dubbed “Operation Rising Lion,” early Friday, targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities as well as military leaders and nuclear scientists and promising that strikes “will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat” of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran launched retaliatory strikes at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Friday evening and have continued to fire missiles at the country.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran has “solid evidence” that the U.S. provided support for Israel’s attacks. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the attacks “could not have been carried out without coordination with and approval of the United States,” adding that the U.S. will be “held responsible for the dangerous consequences of Israel’s adventurism.”
The U.S. has denied any involvement in Israel’s strikes, a position that the Trump Administration has repeated multiple times since Friday.
“We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement released soon after the strikes started, describing the attack as “unilateral action” by Israel. Rubio admitted Israel had informed the Trump Administration of the attack, which both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have also reiterated. The U.S. evacuated embassy staff from across the region the day before the attack last week.
In a post on Truth Social urging Iran to “make a deal,” Trump suggested Friday that he was also aware of “the next already planned attacks,” which would be “even more brutal.” Later that day, when asked by the Wall Street Journal if he was given a heads-up about the initial attacks by Israel, he suggested that description was an understatement, responding: “Heads-up? It wasn’t a heads-up. It was, we know what’s going on.”
But on Saturday night, following further strikes, Trump again posted: “The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight.”
“Clear U.S. green light”
Israel’s attack had been months in the making. Reports in May of Israel’s preparations to strike Iran suggested that the Trump Administration would not assist Israel in such an operation, especially as Washington was in the midst of negotiating a nuclear agreement with Tehran.
But news outlet Axios reported Friday that Israeli officials said the strikes were in fact coordinated with the U.S., claiming that the Trump Administration publicly pretended to oppose an Israeli attack but gave Israel a “clear U.S. green light” in private.
According to the latest reports, the U.S. has even intervened to shape the attack. U.S. officials told Reuters, the Associated Press, CNN, and others that Israel had informed the Trump Administration of a credible plan to assassinate Khamenei and that the White House waved Israel off the plan.
Netanyahu spokesperson Omer Dostri later denied those reports, calling them “fake.” “There’s so many false reports of conversations that never happened, and I’m not going to get into that,” Netanyahu said when asked about it on Fox News on Sunday. “But I can tell you,” he continued, “we’ll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States.”
The unclear messaging about the extent of U.S. involvement, however, could reflect mixed priorities between the U.S. and Israel.
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and an expert on U.S.-Iran relations, told NPR that “clearly there had been coordination and some form of a green light” by the Trump Administration for the Israeli strikes.
“Trump is making a major gamble here, thinking that this actually will soften the Iranian position and make them capitulate,” Parsi added. “If they don’t, what are his options? And this is where I think the Israelis are hoping that the Iranians will not capitulate and that will force the United States into the war.”
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