Iran made a “very tragic decision for them” by violating the Memorandum of Understanding with the United States, which is why responsive strikes from the U.S. military have occurred in recent days, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
In her first briefing back from maternity leave on Thursday, Leavitt explained that agreement was intended to allow open transit of cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz, but Iran repeatedly kept striking ships.
“Iran very much continues to talk to the United States of America and express that they want to make a deal with us, because they are suffering devastating blows on behalf of our United States military,” the press secretary said when a reporter asked about the recent strikes, noting she had just spoken with the president about the topic on Wednesday.
"Specifically, in the memorandum of understanding that they signed, they were not to fire on commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz. And, unfortunately, they have made the tragic decision for them to do that,” she continued.
“And 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, and that’s what we are witnessing right now,” Leavitt added.
.@NewsNation’s @LibbeyDean_: “President Trump has now greenlit strikes on Iran for nearly every day this week. Do you — and does the White House describe negotiations more at a standstill or essentially completely over?”@PressSec @KarolineLeavitt: “Well, I’ve spoken with the… pic.twitter.com/WpmdVzyLgz
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 16, 2026
Shortly after the briefing concluded, United States Central Command announced a fifth day of strikes were underway.
“At 2 p.m. ET today, U.S. forces began conducting a new wave of strikes against Iran for the fifth consecutive night to further degrade Iranian military capabilities,” CENTCOM posted to X.
At 2 p.m. ET today, U.S. forces began conducting a new wave of strikes against Iran for the fifth consecutive night to further degrade Iranian military capabilities.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) July 16, 2026
Leavitt also took questions about President Donald Trump’s address scheduled for Thursday night, which is expected to focus on elections, but encouraged people to watch rather than speculate on its content.
In addition, the press secretary noted that a presidential teleprompter operator is now on unpaid administrative leave after a report surfaced that the individual was won over $100,000 on prediction markets bets about Trump’s remarks, according to ABC News.