US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel would take a leading role in a potential military strike on Iran along with the US if upcoming nuclear talks don’t succeed.

The remark came two days after Trump appeared to blindside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by announcing alongside him at the White House that direct US-Iran talks on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program would take place this coming Saturday, a timing that Netanyahu’s cabinet secretary said Wednesday had taken Jerusalem by surprise.

Asked by reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday whether he would use military means against Iran if the latter doesn’t agree to a nuclear deal, Trump responded: “If it requires military, we’re going to have military.”

“Israel will obviously be very much involved in that — it’ll be the leader of that,” he said, in what appeared to be the first time he’s explicitly threatened an Iranian strike by Israel, let alone one led by the Jewish state.

But he appeared to partially walk back the comment in his next breath. “But nobody leads us. We do what we want to do.”

He said the US would “absolutely” use military force against Iran if necessary, and that he has a timeline for how long the diplomatic effort would last, though he didn’t specify. Reports have said Trump is giving the process two months.

“I can’t really be specific. But when you start talks, you know if they’re going along well or not… The conclusion would be when I think they’re not going along well.”

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