White House insists Iran has not rejected US peace proposal<\/p>\n
Asked about reports that Iran<\/a> has rejected the US 15-point plan to end the war, Leavitt says \u201cthey have not\u201d and insisted talks are continuing.<\/p>\n She says:<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.21 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Iran warns unnamed regional country against alleged plan to seize island<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has warned on X that \u201cbased on some information, Iran\u2019s enemies, with the backing of a regional country, are preparing to seize one of the Iranian islands\u201d.<\/p>\n The post goes on: \u201cAll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither the regional country or Iranian island are specified.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.03 EDT<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n She said in a post<\/a> on X:<\/p>\n double quotation markI will not support troops on the ground in Iran, even more so after this briefing.<\/p>\n In a later post<\/a>, the South Carolina representative added that the gap between what was presented to the American public and the military objectives presented today is \u201cdeeply troubling\u201d.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Leavitt is then asked about Trump\u2019s repeated comments recently that regime change has been achieved in Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cHas it not?\u201d she cuts in. \u201cTheir entire leadership has been killed, and nobody has really seen or legitimately heard from this alleged new leader, so wouldn\u2019t you say there\u2019s been a change in the regime?\u201d<\/p>\n She goes on: \u201cThere\u2019s been a change in the regime leadership, which is what the president said, so thank you for confirming he is right.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.38 EDT<\/p>\n Leavitt is then asked whether Trump still believes the US should have a role in choosing Iran\u2019s new leadership. She replies:<\/p>\n 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 \u2018death to America\u2019 \u2026 These would all obviously be good.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Amid mounting confusion over the 15-point plan, Leavitt is asked a follow-up question.<\/p>\n Q. Just to follow up, because you said that some of the information that\u2019s 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?<\/p>\n Here is the White House press secretary\u2019s brow-raising reply:<\/p>\n double quotation markIf you\u2019ve heard it from the president of the United States, obviously it\u2019s true, as well as the objectives of Operation Epic Fury.<\/p>\n She is also pressed on criticism that Trump\u2019s approach has shifted from demanding that Iran<\/a> can\u2019t have a nuclear weapon to tighter restrictions on nuclear enrichment generally.<\/p>\n The president has been \u201cquite clear\u201d on what he wants to see from the Iranian regime, she says, without clearing anything up.<\/p>\n Karoline Leavitt takes questions during a news briefing. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.32 EDT<\/p>\n Leavitt is then asked what has changed that has made JD Vance emerge as a more active participant in negotiations with Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think anything has changed,\u201d Leavitt says. \u201cThe vice-president has always been a key member of the president\u2019s right hand man and a key member of the president\u2019s national security team. He\u2019s been part of these discussions, throughout this entire course of the administration.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cThe vice-president has been by the president\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n It was reported on Tuesday via Pakistani sources that Vance was being put forward as a probable chief negotiator from the US side<\/a> if talks went ahead \u2013 after Iranian sources said they would refuse to sit down with Trump\u2019s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, or Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who led the nuclear negotiations with Iran before the war<\/a>, and with whom there was \u201czero trust\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.23 EDT<\/p>\n White House avoids question of whether US boots on the ground needed to reopen strait of Hormuz if talks fail<\/p>\n 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\u2019s allies have said they\u2019re either unable or unwilling to assist.<\/p>\n Leavitt says she won\u2019t answer a hypothetical question, and that the decision is for the president, as commander-in-chief, to make.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.20 EDT<\/p>\n Next, Leavitt is asked if the United States is providing support for Israel\u2019s offensive in Lebanon, and if Trump is concerned that more than a million people have been displaced.<\/p>\n On the first part of the question, Leavitt says she\u2019s \u201cnot in a position to comment\u201d on this.<\/p>\n On the second part, she says \u201cof course\u201d Trump is concerned and that is why it\u2019s important to \u201celiminate the threat\u201d of the Iranian regime and their proxies, including Hezbollah.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why Trump \u201cwants to see this move as quickly as possible over the next couple of weeks\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.06 EDT<\/p>\n White House insists Iran has not rejected US peace proposal<\/p>\n Asked about reports that Iran<\/a> has rejected the US 15-point plan to end the war, Leavitt says \u201cthey have not\u201d and insisted talks are continuing.<\/p>\n She says:<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n