Washington DC [US], July 17 (ANI): The White House on Thursday (local time) said Iran continues to engage in talks with the United States and has expressed its willingness to reach an agreement with Washington, even as US forces have carried out multiple rounds of strikes against Iranian targets in recent days.
Responding to a question during a press briefing on whether negotiations with Tehran were at a standstill following nearly a week of US military action on Tehran, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran remains in contact with the United States, despite the strikes.
“Iran very much continues to talk to the United States of America and express that they want to make a deal with us because they are suffering devastating blows on behalf of our United States military,” Leavitt said.
She said the recent US strikes were launched after Iran allegedly violated the 14-point memorandum of understanding reached between the two countries to end the hostilities in West Asia.
She noted that the renewed US strikes were in retaliation for Iranian attacks on commercial vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.
“The reason for the recent strikes over the course of the last several days is because Iran violated the memorandum of understanding that we struck with them. Specifically, in the memorandum of understanding that they signed, they were not to fire on commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz. And unfortunately, they have made the tragic decision to do that,” she said.
Leavitt added that US President Donald Trump would not allow attacks on commercial shipping in the strategically important waterway to go unanswered.
“President Trump is not going to sit by and allow these active acts of terrorism to take place in the strait without ensuring Iran pays a consequence for that, and that’s what we are witnessing right now,” she added.
Asked whether Trump had grown frustrated with the negotiations and why a deal with Iran would still be worthwhile, Leavitt said Tehran’s actions reinforced the administration’s position that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon.
“Look at how bad they are behaving. It just proves the President’s initial point for launching Operation Epic Fury in the first place: Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” she said.
Leavitt said the US had shifted towards diplomacy after the conclusion of Operation Epic Fury but claimed Iran subsequently violated the understanding reached with Washington.
“They have expressed they still want to make a deal with the President. We’re talking to them, but again, the President is not going to allow them to fire on ships in the strait without paying a consequence for that,” she said.
US strikes on Iran continue for the sixth consecutive night on Thursday amid rising hostilities between the two sides following the collapse of the 14-point memorandum of understanding.
According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), the operation targeted Iranian military capabilities that it said had been used to threaten vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest exchange of fire highlights a severe escalation in the conflict in West Asia, which has increasingly broadened from targeted US strikes inside Iran to reciprocal attacks directly involving American military installations situated across the Gulf. (ANI)
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