President Donald Trump suggested on Sunday that US military forces “could get involved” in the rapidly escalating war between Israel and Iran, prompting alarm from members of Congress and international observers who warned that such a move could violate US law and entangle the country in another catastrophic Middle East conflict.
Speaking to ABC News senior political correspondent Rachel Scott, Trump declared, “We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved.” However, this statement contradicted multiple reports indicating that the US is already engaged, having assisted Israel in shooting down incoming Iranian missiles and deploying fighter jets to patrol Middle Eastern airspace to “protect personnel and installations.”
An Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post that “there was full and complete coordination with the Americans” on Israel’s initial barrage against Iran, launched early Friday, which triggered the ongoing cycle of deadly retaliations. Over the weekend, the Israeli military expanded its campaign to target infrastructure across Iran, striking manufacturing plants, airports, and offices allegedly tied to Iran’s religious leadership and military production.
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks that reportedly killed more than 20 people in Israel. Israeli authorities confirmed that 13 of the dead were civilians, including three minors. Meanwhile, Iranian sources and human rights monitors say Israeli strikes have killed more than 200 people in Iran and injured dozens more.
As the two nations continue trading fire, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of a “more severe and powerful response” if Israel continues its offensive. “The continuation of Zionist [Israeli] aggression will be met with a more severe and powerful response from the Iranian armed forces,” he said, reportedly during a call with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Trump has issued several public statements since the start of the conflict, vacillating between threats and vague calls for diplomacy. In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, the president warned Iran not to retaliate against the United States. “If we are attacked in any way, shape, or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” he wrote. “However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict.”
Later on Sunday, Trump doubled down during the ABC interview, saying there was no strict “deadline” for Iran to return to the negotiating table over a nuclear deal. In earlier comments, he blamed Iranian leaders for failing to finalize an agreement, saying, “I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to ‘just do it,’ but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done. Certain Iranian hardliners spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse.”
These remarks followed news that US-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Muscat, Oman were canceled. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi confirmed the cancellation, and Iranian state media quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei describing the talks as “meaningless” in the wake of Israel’s strikes.
Concerns over Trump’s posture escalated after Axios reported that Israeli officials had requested US participation in the war, specifically to help destroy Iran’s Fordow uranium enrichment facility, which is buried deep underground. According to the report, “An Israeli official claimed to Axios that the US might join the operation, and that President Trump even suggested he’d do so if necessary in a recent conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has made clear that the military operation, dubbed Operation Rising Lion, will continue indefinitely. “We have paved a path to Tehran. In the very near future, you will see Israeli planes, the Israeli Air Force, our pilots, over the skies of Tehran,” he said in a video address. Defense Minister Israel Katz has echoed those threats, stating, “If Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front, Tehran will burn.” Katz later added, “The IDF continues to peel the skin of the Iranian snake with great force, from nuclear weapons to Tehran and everywhere else.”
The scale and intensity of the strikes have raised alarm within Congress, particularly among Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas warned that any further military escalation would require congressional approval. “If President Trump intends to get the US more involved in the war between Israel and Iran by attacking Iran, he must come to the Congress, make his case, and secure an authorization before he pulls our country into yet another war in the Middle East,” Castro said.
On Monday, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia introduced a war powers resolution that would require a full congressional debate and vote before any US military action is taken against Iran. “It is not in our national security interest to get into a war with Iran unless that war is absolutely necessary to defend the United States,” Kaine stated. “I am deeply concerned that the recent escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran could quickly pull the United States into another endless conflict.”
Brian Finucane, a senior adviser for the US Program at the International Crisis Group, cautioned that Trump’s rhetoric and coordination with Israel could violate international law. “Any US attack on Iran would almost certainly be illegal,” he wrote on social media. Finucane also warned, “Hope President Trump realizes that letting Netanyahu drag him into an unnecessary war will make him look weak.”
As tensions climb and diplomacy collapses, international organizations have begun calling for de-escalation. The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) issued a statement urging the US to pressure Israel to stop the attacks. “Death and destruction are mounting on both sides,” the group said. “Absent this intervention, the death toll will rise, and more of each country will be left in ruins.”
NIAC continued, “This war is bad for Israel, Iran, and the United States—which is likely to be sucked into the vortex unless it takes a decisive stand for peace.” The group added, “Israel started this war, and pressure must be on Israel to stop it. Iran’s foreign minister has also stated clearly that if Israel’s attacks stop, so will Iranian retaliation. The path is open for Trump to end this bloody conflict. Any delay will lead to more death and suffering, and put diplomatic off-ramps further out of reach.”
With nuclear negotiations stalled, regional diplomacy crumbling, and threats of further escalation mounting, the question remains whether the United States will act as a force for de-escalation—or enter yet another war in the Middle East.
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