US House Speaker Pelosi: Absolutely No Appetite for War with Iran


US House Speaker Pelosi: Absolutely No Appetite for War with Iran

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that "we have absolutely no appetite for going to war" with Iran amid heightened tensions with the Middle Eastern power following recent attacks on two oil tankers in the Sea of Oman.

"We have absolutely no appetite for going to war or to be provocative, to create situations that might evoke responses where mistakes could be made," she said while appearing on CNN.

She also questioned the "motivation to be provocative with the Iranians."

"What is their motivation to be provocative with the Iranians? Why did the president turn his back on the Iranian nuclear agreement?" she said, according to a transcript.

"What's the logic except some other issue — that it was negotiated by President Obama?"

"We had so many national security experts, whether they were ambassadors, generals, admirals and all the rest, supporting the agreement," she added.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday blamed Iran for the attacks on the Norwegian-owned MT Front Altair and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous, citing intelligence, the weapons used, expertise required and similar recent attacks.

The US military released a video later on Thursday that allegedly shows Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps removing a mine from one of the targeted oil tankers after evacuation.

The captain of the Kokuka disputed the US assertion on Friday.

“Our crew said that the ship was attacked by a flying object,” said Yutaka Katada, president of ship operator Kokuka Sangyo.

Iran has denied any role in the event, and some observers have raised questions about whether the intelligence was being used as a pretext for the US to escalate conflict with the country and bring back Tehran to the negotiating table.

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