Trump Denies the US Attacked Iran Because of Israel: I Was the One Forcing Them

As the United States, President Donald Trump dismissed the notion that Washington attacked Iran under Israeli influence. Instead, he said he had forced Israel. ‘No, actually, I may have forced them,’ Trump told reporters at the White House during a visit by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, reported by detikNews from Al-Jazeera on Wednesday 4 March 2026. He said the Oman talks convinced him that Iran would attack the United States. It is known that U.S. intelligence stated there was no direct threat from Iran. Previously, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States attacked Iran because it knew Israel would bomb its country or American facilities in the region. While calling for regime change, Trump said he wanted Iran’s leadership to be held by insiders, meaning not Reza Pahlavi. ‘He (Pahlavi) seems to be a very nice man. But in my view, someone from within might be better,’ he said. He argued that the worst-case scenario of an attack on Iran would be a new leadership no different from the current one that the United States is opposing. ‘I think the worst-case scenario is we do this, and then someone takes over who is as bad as the previous one, right?’ Trump said. ‘That could happen. We do not want that to happen,’ he added.