Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran sees the U.S. as already participating in Israel’s attacks, and cited President Donald Trump’s words.
The U.S. has not yet joined in with Israel’s strikes, which began on Friday, June 13, with the launch of Operation Rising Lion, but is helping it to defend itself against Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone attacks.
Trump has given himself two weeks to decide if the U.S. should strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, a window of time for Tehran to make a new deal. He has said Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb. Iran says its nuclear program is for civil energy purposes.
Araghchi told Iranian state media that “we consider the Americans to be aligned with and cooperating with the Zionist regime.”
“In these attacks that have been carried out against Iran, there are multiple signs indicating cooperation between U.S. forces present in the region and the Zionist regime,” Araghchi said, originally in Farsi.
“But more importantly than all of that are the tweets and interviews given by that country’s president, where he explicitly uses the word ‘we’—saying we did this, we carried out that action, this must happen, that must happen.
“Well, that makes the case clear without needing further evidence. The presence and participation of the U.S. in this scene is evident.”
He also ruled out talks with the U.S. while Israel is striking Iran.
Newsweek has contacted the White House press office for comment via email outside of normal business hours.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Trump on Israel-Iran
“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” Trump posted to his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, June 17, after Israel said it had achieved “aerial superiority” over the Iranian capital, Tehran.
“Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.”
The U.S. is a major supplier of military equipment to Israel.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump wrote in a subsequent post.
“He is an easy target, but is safe there—We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.”
Trump followed up with a demand for “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
The president has also said he speaks regularly to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the Iran conflict unfolds.
