Iran judiciary disputes Trump statement that US prisoner was released

Iran continues to hold talks with the United States and wants to reach a deal, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday.

“Iran very much continues to talk to the United States of America and has expressed that they want to make a deal with us because they are suffering devastating blows” from the US military, Leavitt said.

She said recent US strikes followed what Washington described as Iran’s violation of the Iran-US memorandum of understanding barring attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

“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 consequences for that,” she said.

Leavitt said Trump remained open to diplomacy but would not allow Iran to attack shipping without consequences.

She said the US had demonstrated it could strike Iran “anytime, anywhere, any place,” adding that Tehran’s ability to defend itself had been “essentially wiped out.”

The White House defended President Donald Trump's denial of US responsibility for the deadly attack on a school in the southern Iranian city of Minab, saying he knows the American military would never deliberately target civilians or children.

“The president feels that way because he knows that our military always acts in good faith,” the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

She accused Iran of having killed women, children and other civilians inside the country “for a very long time.”

Overnight strikes on the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz on Wednesday were carried out using HIMARS surface-to-surface missiles launched from Kuwait, a commentator on Iranian state television said.

Nima Akbarkhani said much of the footage he reviewed was recorded by Shiite residents of southern Iraq, where the launch systems had moved closer to Iran.

The IRGC-affiliated Sabereen News also released a video that purportedly showed a drone strike in Bandar Abbas, which it said was a UAE-made Yabhon aerial vehicle.

Saudi Arabia condemned Iran’s attacks on Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, saying they threatened regional security and violated international law, the kingdom’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

Saudi Arabia “affirms the Kingdom’s full support for the sisterly countries in the measures they take in response to the brutal Iranian attacks,” the ministry said.

“The Kingdom reiterates its condemnation of Iran’s actions in threatening the region’s security and stability and violating the principles of international law and the rules of good-neighborly relations,” it added.

The ministry called for an immediate end to military escalation, a return to dialogue and the resolution of disputes through diplomatic means.

Iran’s Lavan refinery in southern Iran lost half of its production capacity after coming under attack on the first day of the ceasefire with the United States on April 8, the head of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company said Thursday.

“One of our refineries was damaged on the first day of the ceasefire. It was the Lavan refinery. Unfortunately, it came under attack and lost half of its capacity,” Karamat Veis Karami told state TV.

“The refinery, which produced about three million barrels of gasoline per day, lost half of its capacity. It is now operating at about 50% of its production capacity,” he added.

In May, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter, that the United Arab Emirates carried out the strike on Lavan.