White House insists Iran has not rejected US peace proposal
Asked about reports that Iran has rejected the US 15-point plan to end the war, Leavitt says “they have not” and insisted talks are continuing.
She says:
double quotation markHowever, I saw a 15-point plan that was floated in the media. I would caution reporters in this room from reporting about speculative points, speculative plans from anonymous sources.
The White House never confirmed that plan. There are elements of truth to it but some of the stories I read were not entirely factual.
Updated at 14.21 EDT
Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Iran warns unnamed regional country against alleged plan to seize island
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has warned on X that “based on some information, Iran’s enemies, with the backing of a regional country, are preparing to seize one of the Iranian islands”.
The post goes on: “All enemy movements are under the full surveillance of our armed forces. If they step out of line, all the vital infrastructure of that regional country will, without restriction, become the target of relentless attacks.”
Neither the regional country or Iranian island are specified.
Updated at 15.03 EDT
Earlier, US Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace said she will not be supporting the deployment of US troops in Iran after leaving a briefing by the House armed services committee on the war.
She said in a post on X:
double quotation markI will not support troops on the ground in Iran, even more so after this briefing.
In a later post, the South Carolina representative added that the gap between what was presented to the American public and the military objectives presented today is “deeply troubling”.
double quotation markThe justifications presented to the American public for the war in Iran were not the same military objectives we were briefed on today in the House armed services committee. This gap is deeply troubling. The longer this war continues, the faster it will lose the support of Congress and the American people.
Leavitt is then asked about Trump’s repeated comments recently that regime change has been achieved in Iran.
“Has it not?” she cuts in. “Their entire leadership has been killed, and nobody has really seen or legitimately heard from this alleged new leader, so wouldn’t you say there’s been a change in the regime?”
She goes on: “There’s been a change in the regime leadership, which is what the president said, so thank you for confirming he is right.”
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in the initial US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on 28 February, was named supreme leader earlier this month. He was injured in that attack, and has not been seen or heard in public since, though written statements have been released in his name, fuelling speculation about the extent of his injuries. Trump has speculated he could even be dead, and had previously expressed his disapproval of him as leader.
Updated at 14.38 EDT
Leavitt is then asked whether Trump still believes the US should have a role in choosing Iran’s new leadership. She replies:
double quotation markI think the president obviously believes the US wants to have someone in leadership in the Iranian regime that will be much more favourable, that would would be willing to with the US, that would no longer chant ‘death to America’ … These would all obviously be good.
Amid mounting confusion over the 15-point plan, Leavitt is asked a follow-up question.
Q. Just to follow up, because you said that some of the information that’s been out there about the 15-point plan is inaccurate. Can you say what is accurate with respect to ballistic missiles, the nuclear ambitions and the strait of Hormuz, which are things that the president has laid out that he wants to see a couple of times in the past?
Here is the White House press secretary’s brow-raising reply:
double quotation markIf you’ve heard it from the president of the United States, obviously it’s true, as well as the objectives of Operation Epic Fury.
She is also pressed on criticism that Trump’s approach has shifted from demanding that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon to tighter restrictions on nuclear enrichment generally.
The president has been “quite clear” on what he wants to see from the Iranian regime, she says, without clearing anything up.
Karoline Leavitt takes questions during a news briefing. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 14.32 EDT
Leavitt is then asked what has changed that has made JD Vance emerge as a more active participant in negotiations with Iran.
“I don’t think anything has changed,” Leavitt says. “The vice-president has always been a key member of the president’s right hand man and a key member of the president’s national security team. He’s been part of these discussions, throughout this entire course of the administration.”
She added: “The vice-president has been by the president’s side every step of the way, and any reporting otherwise is just completely false. I see him in the room, again, the president seeks his counsel on all matters, both foreign and domestic.”
It was reported on Tuesday via Pakistani sources that Vance was being put forward as a probable chief negotiator from the US side if talks went ahead – after Iranian sources said they would refuse to sit down with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, or Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who led the nuclear negotiations with Iran before the war, and with whom there was “zero trust”.
Updated at 14.23 EDT
White House avoids question of whether US boots on the ground needed to reopen strait of Hormuz if talks fail
Leavitt is then asked if the only other option to reopen the strait of Hormuz if negotiations with Iran fail is to put US boots on the ground, given that the US’s allies have said they’re either unable or unwilling to assist.
Leavitt says she won’t answer a hypothetical question, and that the decision is for the president, as commander-in-chief, to make.
Updated at 14.20 EDT
Next, Leavitt is asked if the United States is providing support for Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, and if Trump is concerned that more than a million people have been displaced.
On the first part of the question, Leavitt says she’s “not in a position to comment” on this.
On the second part, she says “of course” Trump is concerned and that is why it’s important to “eliminate the threat” of the Iranian regime and their proxies, including Hezbollah.
That’s why Trump “wants to see this move as quickly as possible over the next couple of weeks”, she says.
Updated at 14.06 EDT
White House insists Iran has not rejected US peace proposal
Asked about reports that Iran has rejected the US 15-point plan to end the war, Leavitt says “they have not” and insisted talks are continuing.
She says:
double quotation markHowever, I saw a 15-point plan that was floated in the media. I would caution reporters in this room from reporting about speculative points, speculative plans from anonymous sources.
The White House never confirmed that plan. There are elements of truth to it but some of the stories I read were not entirely factual.
Updated at 14.21 EDT
White House: Trump’s preference is peace – but is prepared to ‘unleash hell’ on Iran
Leavitt says that following president Donald Trump’s “powerful threat” at the weekend, it was made clear to the US that Iran wanted to hold talks.
She says Trump is “willing to listen” and says he has been engaged in constructive discussions, leading to the postponement of planned strikes against Iran’s energy infrastructure.
She adds:
double quotation markThe president’s preference is always peace. There does not need to be any more death and destruction.
But if Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, president Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before.
Leavitt says Trump is not one to bluff and that he is prepared “to unleash hell”.