Trump: Israel would be ‘leader’ of potential Iran strike

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel would be the “leader” of a potential military strike against Iran if Tehran doesn’t give up its “nuclear weapons program,” AP reports.

Iran has numerously said that it doesn’t plan to develop nuclear weapons.

The U.S. and other world powers in 2015 reached a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran’s enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear agreement in 2018, calling it the “worst deal ever.”

Trump made the comments ahead of this weekend’s scheduled talks involving U.S. and Iranian officials in Oman. Trump earlier this week said the talks would be “direct” while Iran has described the engagement as “indirect” talks with the U.S.

“If it requires military, we’re going to have military,” Trump said, according to AP. “Israel will obviously be very much involved in that. They’ll be the leader of that. But nobody leads us, but we do what we want to do.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week said he supports Trump’s diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement with Iran. He added that Israel and the U.S. share the same goal of ensuring that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon.

“I want Iran to be great,” Trump said Wednesday. “The only thing that they can’t have is a nuclear weapon. They understand that.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian again pledged Wednesday that his nation is “not after a nuclear bomb.”