Even as US forces carried out a sixth consecutive night of strikes against Iran, President Donald Trump claimed Washington was “winning big” in the conflict, while the White House said Tehran continued to engage with the United States and remained interested in reaching an agreement.
The parallel military and diplomatic messages came as fighting intensified following the collapse of a 14-point memorandum of understanding between the two countries. Washington says the strikes are aimed at degrading Iranian military capabilities, while maintaining that diplomatic channels remain open.
Trump says results of military campaign will be visible soon
Speaking during a primetime address focused largely on protecting the integrity of US elections and foreign attempts to influence them, Trump briefly turned to military operations overseas.
He said his administration had rebuilt the US military into what he described as the world’s most powerful force.
“Unfortunately, we’re forced to use it now,” Trump said.
Referring to recent US military operations, Trump first cited Venezuela before addressing Iran.
“We won in Venezuela, which is now working with us to produce millions and millions of barrels of oil,” he said.
Turning to Iran, Trump added, “We are likewise winning big in Iran, and you will see the fruits of that labour very, very shortly.”
The President did not elaborate on what he meant by the “fruits” of the military campaign.
White House says Iran remains engaged in negotiations
At a separate White House briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran continued to communicate with Washington despite nearly a week of US military action.
“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 latest US strikes followed what the administration described as Iran’s violation of a 14-point memorandum of understanding reached to end hostilities in West Asia.
According to Leavitt, Iran breached the understanding by attacking 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 President Trump would not allow attacks on commercial shipping in the strategic 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 said.
Responding to another question, Leavitt said the administration still believed diplomacy remained possible despite the ongoing military campaign.
“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 enter sixth consecutive night
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said American forces launched another round of strikes against Iran on Thursday, extending operations into a sixth consecutive night.
CENTCOM said the strikes targeted Iranian military capabilities that it claimed had been used to threaten commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.