U.S. negotiations with Iran aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program ended up being the perfect cover for a surprise Israeli attack, The Wall Street Journal said in a commentary on Friday.

Iran and the United States had aimed for a sixth round of talks which was set for Sunday in Oman, however Israeli and U.S. officials warned that if Iran does not end its nuclear enrichment program, military action will ensue.

Instead, Israel hit first, killing three top Iranian generals and nuclear scientists.

The U.S. President Donald Trump claimed in a social media post the he “gave Iran a chance to make a deal.” However, he noted that Iran apparently lost the “chance,” alleging that the Israel attacked Iran due to this unwillingness to accept the U.S. proposal. 

President Trump had long emphasized the importance of pursuing diplomatic solutions over military action, and the looming meeting in Muscat on Sunday was seen as a critical move toward that goal.

Iran had been expected to respond then to a Witkoff proposal for a framework to resolve the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program. The two sides were at loggerheads—the U.S. insisted that Iran would eventually have to stop enriching uranium, which Tehran refused to do. But the expectation was that talks would continue.

Aaron David Miller, the former U.S. Middle East peace negotiator, said that there are no indications the White House was so opposed to an Israeli military strike that it was prepared to put the U.S.-Israeli relationship on the line. Israel, he said, was given a “plausible denial green light.”On Thursday, Trump said he didn’t think an Israeli attack was imminent, “but it is something that could very well happen.” He also said Washington and Tehran were “fairly close to a pretty good agreement” but that Iran would need to make further compromises to avoid conflict. 

Hours later, Israel launched hundreds of warplanes in several waves to hit targets across Iran.

However, Trump admitted on Friday that he knew that Israel was going to attack Iran.

“There is no question that the Witkoff mission was a major contributor to the surprise,” said Dennis Ross, who served as a senior official on Middle East issues during Democratic and Republican administrations. “The Iranians would have assumed that Israel would not attack while the talks were under way and a meeting was about to take place.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had raised possible attacks on Iran in a call with Trump on Monday, two U.S. officials said. Soon after, the U.S. began moving some diplomats and military dependents out of the Middle East. Trump administration officials told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that Israel was prepared to strike Iran within days.

Trump administration officials insisted Thursday night that Witkoff was still planning to attend the Sunday talks. But the possibility of a meeting with his Iranian interlocutor appeared uncertain with Tehran vowing to retaliate against Israel and some Iranian officials accusing Washington of being complicit in the Israeli attack. 

U.S. officials didn’t respond Thursday night to questions about when the White House first learned that Israel intended to strike before Witkoff’s Sunday meeting in Oman.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the U.S. wasn’t involved in Israel’s strike. But he didn’t rule out a U.S. role in helping Israel defend itself against Tehran’s retaliation, a scenario that could draw Washington into the conflict and impel the Pentagon to rush more forces to the Middle East. 

Some former U.S. officials say it won’t be easy for Trump to distance himself from Israel’s military operationA major worry was that Israel’s airstrikes could damage but not destroy Iran’s nuclear program because much of it was buried and dispersed. That might allow Iran to continue its nuclear program covertly. Another longstanding fear was that Iran might respond to an Israeli strike by lashing out at U.S. bases in the region, Washington’s Arab allies and oil shipments in the Persian Gulf.

In pressing for nuclear talks with Iran earlier this year, Trump initially suggested a two-month time frame for negotiations to succeed. That deadline was reached on Thursday.  

But there had also been more hopeful speculation for weeks that the threat of Israeli or American military action might enable Witkoff’s diplomacy by pressuring Tehran to yield to demands that it scale back its nuclear program and stop enriching uranium. 

Trump has said repeatedly that he favored solving the Iran nuclear issue diplomatically. “We remain committed to a Diplomatic Resolution to the Iran Nuclear Issue!” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social before the Israeli strikes were under way.

But some Iranians see an American hand in Israel’s military operations. And some former U.S. officials say it won’t be easy for Trump to distance himself from Israel’s military operation.

Aaron David Miller, the former U.S. Middle East peace negotiator, said that there are no indications the White House was so opposed to an Israeli military strike that it was prepared to put the U.S.-Israeli relationship on the line. Israel, he said, was given a “plausible denial green light.”