President Donald Trump told Reuters in a phone interview on Friday that he and his team knew everything about Israel's plan to attack Iran and that he had given Tehran fair warning it needed to make a deal on its nuclear program.
"We knew everything, and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death. I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out," Trump said.
"They can still work out a deal, however, it’s not too late," he added.
Trump had repeatedly pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay an Israeli attack to give diplomacy more time, though the president himself had threatened to bomb the Gulf nation if nuclear talks failed.
Trump said he had given the Iranians 60 days to come to an agreement, "and today is 61." Iran has balked at the US insistence that it give up uranium enrichment.
"We knew just about everything," he said. "We knew enough that we gave Iran 60 days to make a deal and today is 61, right? So, you know, we knew everything.”
Trump said it was unclear if Iran still has a nuclear program following Israeli strikes on the country.
"Nobody knows. It was a very devastating hit," Trump said.