'Forced Israel into war with Iranian lunatics': Trump contradicts Rubio's 'we knew Israeli plans' remark: Why is US confused?

Amid Iran's criticism that the US might be dragged into the war on Israel's insistence, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (Mar 3) denied all such claims and suggested that if anything, the opposite could be true and that he felt Iran was going to attack first. Speaking at a press conference in the Oval Office alongside visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump said that the US was negotiating with “lunatics” and he might have “forced” Israel into this war. Israel and the US ‘pre-emptively’ launched strikes on Iran on Feb 28, and killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“No, I might have forced their hands. You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they [the Iranians] were going to attack first,” Trump claimed. It must be noted that Trump's remark is not in line with what his Secretary of State said just a day ago, thus adding to the twist of why the US administration is confused about the reason why they attacked Iran. Moreover, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu defended pre-emptive strikes on Iran, saying Tehran was months away from securing its nuclear program but Trump administration has not yet issued any statements regarding his claims. When asked to Netanyahu if he dragged US into the war, he laughed off saying, “That’s ridiculous. Donald Trump is the strongest leader in the world. He does what he thinks is right for America. He does also what he thinks is right for future generations.”

Also Read: 'Struck ‘covert underground’ nuclear site in Iran used for secret weapons-development', says Israel

What Rubio said?

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday (Mar 3) that America attacked Iran “preemptively” after knowing about Israel's plans. “Obviously, we were aware of Israeli intentions and understood what that would mean for us, and we had to be prepared to act as a result of it. But this had to happen no matter what," he said. "We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties," Rubio added. Rubio said that Iran had told field commanders to respond automatically against US forces if there was an attack. "If we stood and waited for that attack to come first before we hit them, we would suffer much higher casualties. And so the president made the very wise decision" to hit alongside Israel, Rubio said.

Also Read: 'EVERYTHING HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT IN IRAN': Donald Trump

Iran slams US for starting Israel's war

After Rubio's statement, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that it is now proven that America is fighting Israel's war. Slamming his American counterpart Marco Rubio’s justification for attacking Tehran, Araghchi said that there was never anything called the “Iranian threat.” In a post on X, Araghchi said, “Mr. Rubio admitted what we all knew: US has entered a war of choice on behalf of Israel. There was never any so-called Iranian ‘threat'. Shedding of both American and Iranian blood is thus on Israel Firsters. American people deserve better and should take back their country.”

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