White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt asserted that Iran is “not the once very strong, powerful terrorist state that they were” before the US’s Operation Epic Fury against the Islamic Regime in Tehran, during a press briefing on Wednesday.
When asked about the status of US-Iran negotiations, she claimed that Iran's leadership is still speaking with the US and has expressed interest in reaching another peace deal after the recent collapse of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding.
She elaborated that the reason behind the collapse and recent, renewed strikes against Iran was due to Tehran’s violations of the MoU.
“In the MoU that they signed, they were not to fire on commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz. Unfortunately, they have made the tragic decision… to do that,” Leavitt stated.
“President Trump is not going to sit by and allow these active acts of terror to take place in the strait without ensuring Iran pays consequences for that, and that’s what we’re witnessing right now,” she added.
Iranian strikes in Hormuz validate reasoning behind Operation Epic Fury, Leavitt says
Leavitt stated that Iran’s strikes on vessels in the strait validate US President Donald Trump’s initial reasoning for launching Operation Epic Fury in February, but noted that he is “always open and willing to [engage in] diplomacy.”
She added that the US has proven to the world that it maintains the ability to strike Iran “anytime, anywhere, and any place.”
Leavitt additionally touted that American strikes “neutered” Iranian leadership’s ability to communicate, thus transforming the regime into a “fragmented system.”