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Added on the 29/01/2024 20:40:12 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
The White House accuses Iran of "actively facilitating" attacks on US bases in the Middle East, as it expresses concern over the potential for escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. SOUNDBITE
Tehran (Iran), March 17 (EFE), (Camera: Artemis Razmipour).- Iran's president Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that the "conditions" for the United States to eliminate the sanctions against his country are in place and that he expects "action "by the White House, as well as the US return to the 2015 nuclear deal. SOUNDBITES OF IRANIAN PRESIDENT HASSAN ROUHANI: "Today, more than ever, the conditions are in place for the sanctions to be eliminated. Americans have explicitly declared, and not once but several times, that the path of the previous administration was wrong and that the maximum pressure failed. They have repeated it several times and have expressed that they want to return to the path of compromise, to the path of the JCPOA. Of course, words are not enough for us, it is clear that we expect action.""In these three years, during the imposed economic war, our nation was alone but it resisted due to its capacity."
The White House says it had "warned" Iran after President Joe Biden said Tehran was threatening a significant attack on Israel over a strike that destroyed an Iranian consulate building in Damascus. SOUNDBITE
Dozens of protesters waving Palestinian flags gather outside the White House to protest US President Joe Biden's support for Israel's war in Gaza, ahead of his State of the Union speech. IMAGES
The United States wants the war between Israel and Hamas to "end as soon as possible," the White House says, after Israel's defense minister told a top US official the conflict would last several months more. "How long that's going to take? I can't predict...but obviously we all want it to be over as soon as possible," US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby tells reporters in a briefing. SOUNDBITE
The White House denies that the unfreezing of $6 billion of Iranian funds to help secure the release of five US citizens was effectively a ransom payment. "This is not a payment of any kind. It's not ransom," says White House national security spokesman John Kirby, pushing back against criticism of the deal. SOUNDBITE
Last week, US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said the US would reduce the number of US troops in Afghanistan from 4,500 down to 2,500 by year's end. O'Brien added that the drawdown would take place, regardless of the conditions on the ground. But on Sunday, America's most senior general publicly pushed back at O'Brien's remarks, calling them 'speculation.' Robert O'Brien, or anyone else, can speculate as they see fit, I am not going to engage in speculation, I'm going to engage in the rigorous analysis of the situation based on the conditions and the plans that I'm aware of in my conversations with the President. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley The mixed messages from the Pentagon and the White House come as the Taliban launched a major military offensive against the Afghan government. The attack prompted US military aircraft to carry out a series of airstrikes against Taliban fighters in recent days.
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