White House Says Trump ‘Always Open to Diplomacy’ as Iran Strikes Expand

The United States and Iran are continuing to exchange military strikes as fighting escalates amid a collapsed peace agreement.The Pentagon expanded its targets on Thursday in a series of strikes on northern Iran and areas around Tehran. At an afternoon press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the strikes are in response to Iran’s “tragic” decision to fire on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. “President Trump is not going to sit by and allow these acts of terrorism to take place in the strait without ensuring Iran pays consequences for that,” Ms. Leavitt said.“The president is always open to diplomacy,” Ms. Leavitt went on to say. She added that President Trump may speak about the situation with Iran in a national address on Thursday evening.Iran’s Mehr news agency reported Thursday that American missiles hit areas around Qeshm Island in the strait. It also reported that attacks hit the Semnan province, home to Iran’s ballistic missile production.The American military confirmed that it had fired on a ship that was reportedly trying to break its naval blockade. U.S. Central Command announced that it disabled the Curacao-flagged vessel by firing hellfire missiles into the ship’s smokestack after it ignored multiple warnings.“The ship is no longer transiting to Iran,” Centcom wrote. Iran launched its own attacks on American allies in the region. Missiles and drones targeted Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait. The General Staff of the Kuwaiti army said Thursday that it was repelling drone attacks and blamed “sinful Iranian aggression.” Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi of Iraq also condemned a drone attack in his nation’s Kurdish region. President Trump, in an interview with Fox News, said the American military would attack power plants and bridges in Iran if it didn’t come to the negotiation table. An Iranian army spokesman, Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, responded to that threat issuing his own warning that Iran would respond by hitting oil wells and other infrastructure across the region, and “nothing will be left behind.” A Dubai-based company shut down gas production in the semiautonomous region due to the threat.Iran has asked its Houthi allies in Yemen to be prepared to close a Red Sea oil route, Bab-al-Mandeb, if the American military attacks Iranian infrastructure. The leader of Yemen’s Houthis threatened strikes against Saudi Arabia after the Saudis targeted Yemen’s main airport earlier in the week. “The real equation is this: you struck Sana’a, we must strike Riyadh. If you strike a port, we will strike your port. If you blockade us, we will blockade you,” Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said in a televised speech.The increased attacks have slowed ship traffic in the strait. India is telling its shipping companies to avoid allowing its sailors on ships traveling the strait. “The strait is open for ships that are not traveling to and from Iranian ports, specifically, and the U.S. Navy is there to ensure that can take place,” Ms. Leavitt said. Oil prices have started to rise in recent days but remain well off highs from the early days of the conflict. If gas prices remain elevated, they could be an issue for Republicans in the November midterm elections.

White House Says Trump ‘Always Open to Diplomacy’ as Iran Strikes Expand

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