Tehran Responds to Trump: We’ll Make Our Enemies Pay for their Actions

US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters upon arriving on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, on his way to attend a football game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions in Maryland. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters upon arriving on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, on his way to attend a football game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions in Maryland. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Tehran Responds to Trump: We’ll Make Our Enemies Pay for their Actions

US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters upon arriving on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, on his way to attend a football game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions in Maryland. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters upon arriving on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, on his way to attend a football game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions in Maryland. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that after President Donald Trump's admission of being behind the Israeli attack on Iran during the 12-day war last June, the US government must accept the legal, political, and military consequences of its blatant aggression on his country.

Speaking at an open session of the Parliament, the Speaker vowed that aggressors will be held accountable.

On Friday, Trump said he was “very much in charge of” Israel's initial attack on Iran early last summer.

“Israel attacked first. That attack was very, very powerful. I was very much in charge of that,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “When Israel attacked Iran first, that was a great day for Israel because that attack did more damage than the rest of them put together.”

The initial Israeli strikes on Iran in the early hours of June 13 killed top Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists, it also damaged Iranian nuclear facilities.

Ghalibaf said: “Following the US president’s explicit admission of direct responsibility in the Zionist regime’s aggression against Iran, I strongly denounce this heinous act on behalf of the noble people of Iran.”

The Speaker noted that under international law, “the US government must accept the legal, political, and military consequences of this blatant aggression, which has resulted in the martyrdom of many of our citizens.”

On Saturday, Iranian news outlets said the country’s ambassador to the UN urged the Security Council to act after the US president publicly acknowledged leading the Israeli regime’s recent military attacks on Iran.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and President of the Security Council Michael Imran Kanu, Amir Saeed Iravani denounced the “irrefutable evidence” of US responsibility in the Israeli assaults on Iranian territory last June.

“These criminal aggressions-representing a grave and flagrant violation of Article 2 (4) of the UN Charter, the peremptory norms prohibiting the threat or use of force against sovereign States and international humanitarian law- resulted in numerous civilian casualties, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and serious damage to Iran's safeguarded and peaceful nuclear facilities,” he wrote.

Also, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Friday the United States must be held accountable for its “direct involvement” in Israeli airstrikes on Iran in June.

In a post on X, Baghaei responded to Trump’s remarks, which he said contradicted Washington's earlier claims that Israel acted alone.

Baghaei cited comments delivered on June 13, 2025 by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who denied US involvement in the strikes and called them a “unilateral” Israeli action. Baghaei said that statement was “an outright lie.”

He said: “From the very beginning, it was clear that the United States was a full participant in Israel's crime of aggression against the nation of Iran,” adding that Washington must be held responsible for “this flagrant violation and atrocious wrong.”

Last April, Tehran and Washington began rounds of Omani-mediated negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. But the talks were halted before the sixth round, following the surprise Israeli attack on Iran on June 13.



Top Trump Iran Negotiator Says Visits US Aircraft Carrier in Middle East

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. (Reuters)
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. (Reuters)
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Top Trump Iran Negotiator Says Visits US Aircraft Carrier in Middle East

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. (Reuters)
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, January 6, 2026. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump's lead Iran negotiator Steve Witkoff on Saturday said he visited the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier currently in the Arabian Sea, with Washington and Tehran due to hold further talks soon.

"Today, Adm. Brad Cooper, Commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, Jared Kushner, and I met with the brave sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, her strike group, and Carrier Air Wing 9 who are keeping us safe and upholding President Trump's message of peace through strength," said Witkoff in a social media post.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday he hoped talks with the United States would resume soon, while reiterating Tehran's red lines and warning against any American attack.


Israel’s Netanyahu Expected to Meet Trump in US on Wednesday and Discuss Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a special session to mark the 77th anniversary of the Knesset's establishment and the 60th anniversary of the dedication of the current building at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a special session to mark the 77th anniversary of the Knesset's establishment and the 60th anniversary of the dedication of the current building at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
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Israel’s Netanyahu Expected to Meet Trump in US on Wednesday and Discuss Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a special session to mark the 77th anniversary of the Knesset's establishment and the 60th anniversary of the dedication of the current building at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a special session to mark the 77th anniversary of the Knesset's establishment and the 60th anniversary of the dedication of the current building at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem, 02 February 2026. (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet US President Donald Trump on Wednesday in Washington, where they will discuss negotiations with Iran, Netanyahu's office said on Saturday.

Iranian and US officials held indirect nuclear ‌talks in the ‌Omani capital ‌Muscat ⁠on Friday. ‌Both sides said more talks were expected to be held again soon.

A regional diplomat briefed by Tehran on the talks told Reuters Iran insisted ⁠on its "right to enrich uranium" ‌during the negotiations with ‍the US, ‍and that Tehran's missile capabilities ‍were not raised in the discussions.

Iranian officials have ruled out putting Iran's missiles - one of the largest such arsenals in the region - up ⁠for discussion, and have said Tehran wants recognition of its right to enrich uranium.

"The Prime Minister believes that any negotiations must include limiting ballistic missiles and halting support for the Iranian axis," Netanyahu's office said in a ‌statement.


Italy FM Rules Out Joining Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’

Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaks to the press during the EPP Leaders’ meeting, in Zagreb, Croatia, 30 January 2026. (EPA)
Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaks to the press during the EPP Leaders’ meeting, in Zagreb, Croatia, 30 January 2026. (EPA)
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Italy FM Rules Out Joining Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’

Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaks to the press during the EPP Leaders’ meeting, in Zagreb, Croatia, 30 January 2026. (EPA)
Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaks to the press during the EPP Leaders’ meeting, in Zagreb, Croatia, 30 January 2026. (EPA)

Italy will not take part in US President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace", Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Saturday, citing "insurmountable" constitutional issues.

Trump launched his "Board of Peace" at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January and some 19 countries have signed its founding charter.

But Italy's constitution bars the country from joining an organization led by a single foreign leader.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a Trump ally, last month noted "constitutional problems" with joining, but suggested Trump could perhaps reopen the framework "to meet the needs not only of Italy, but also of other European countries".

Tajani appeared Saturday to rule that out.

"We cannot participate in the Board of Peace because there is a constitutional limit," he told the ANSA news agency.

"This is insurmountable from a legal standpoint," he said, the day after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Vice President JD Vance at the Olympics in Milan.

Although originally meant to oversee Gaza's rebuilding, the board's charter does not limit its role to the Palestinian territory and appears to want to rival the United Nations.