'Don't want to comment': Trump declines to confirm or deny US role in Israeli strikes on Iran

In a terse and carefully worded response that has only added to speculation, US President Donald Trump refused to clarify whether the United States was involved in Israel’s latest military strikes on Iran.

“I don’t want to comment on that,” he said when asked during a press conference if the US had played any role in the operation.

Trump, speaking to ABC News, said the Israeli attack on Iran has been "excellent" and warned there was much more to come.

"I think it's been excellent. We gave them a chance and they didn't take it. They got hit hard, very hard. They got hit about as hard as you're going to get hit. And there's more to come. A lot more," Trump was quoted as saying by an ABC reporter on X.

Iran has termed called Israel's wave of strikes as 'declaration of war', while Trump warned Tehran of "even more brutal" attacks if it does not make a deal on its nuclear programme.

Israel said its air strikes had killed several top generals, including most of the senior leadership of the Revolutionary Guards' air force, while hitting about 100 targets including nuclear facilities.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Israel it faced a "bitter and painful" fate over the attacks, while Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the attack as a "declaration of war" and President Masoud Pezeshkian said "Iran will make the enemy regret its foolish act".

The Israeli military said Iran launched around 100 drones, with air defences intercepting them outside Israeli territory, while neighbouring Jordan said it targeted drones and missiles that violated its airspace.

Trump urged Iran on Friday to "make a deal", warning that there will be more "death and destruction" after Israel launched deadly strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities.

The United States underlined that it was not involved in the Israeli action and warned Iran not to attack its personnel or interests, but Tehran said Washington would be "responsible for consequences".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel struck at the "heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment programme", taking aim at nuclear scientists and the main uranium enrichment facility in Natanz.

The strikes would "continue as many days as it takes", the Israeli premier said, while the military said intelligence showed Iran was approaching the "point of no return" on its nuclear programme.

The strikes killed Iran's highest-ranking military officer, armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri, and the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, Iranian media reported.

Khamenei swiftly appointed new commanders to replace those killed, while state media said a senior adviser to the supreme leader had himself been wounded.