{"id":188511,"date":"2019-05-18T06:11:08","date_gmt":"2019-05-18T06:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=188511"},"modified":"2019-05-21T07:38:56","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T07:38:56","slug":"us-sitting-by-the-phone-awaiting-call-from-iran-official","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=188511","title":{"rendered":"US \u2018sitting by the phone\u2019 awaiting call from Iran: Official"},"content":{"rendered":"

Press TV \u2013 May 18, 2019<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A senior Trump administration official says the US is \u201csitting by the phone\u201d to hear from Iran, but it has yet to receive any message suggesting Tehran is willing to accept Donald Trump\u2019s overtures for direct talks.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The US has heard no message yet from Iran, but \u201cwe\u2019re sitting by the phone,\u201d the senior official, who declined to be identified, told a small group of reporters on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back on May 9, Trump publicly appealed<\/a><\/strong><\/span> to Iran to call him amid heightened tensions.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the same day, CNN reported<\/a><\/strong><\/span> that the White House has contacted Swiss authorities to share a telephone number with Iran in hopes that Tehran will contact Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n

The call for talks came four days after John Bolton, the hawkish US national security advisor, declared the US was sending an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East in a “clear and unmistakable” message to Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n

The move, he said, is aimed at sending a \u201cclear and unmistakable message\u201d to Iran that \u201cany attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bolton said<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>the decision was \u201cin response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump, however, later ordered his administration\u00a0to avoid a military confrontation with Iran,\u00a0The New York Times<\/em> and Reuters reported Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

During a Wednesday morning meeting in the Situation Room, Trump sent a message to his hawkish aides that he does not want the US pressure campaign against Iran to explode into an open conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Trump was firm in saying he did not want a military clash with the Iranians,” read the paper citing five senior officials who described the administration’s internal debate over Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n

The report cited anonymous officials informed on the matter as saying that Trump had privately expressed concern<\/a> that some of his advisers, such as John Bolton, were pushing for war.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hawks in Trump\u2019s team\u00a0have\u00a0reportedly<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/a>gone as far as drawing up\u00a0plans for a possible military strike\u00a0that could involve sending 120,000 soldiers to the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/em> on Monday claimed Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan had presented an updated military plan that envisioned sending as many as 120,000 troops to the Middle East should Iran attack American forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Fake news media\u2019 responsible for \u2018fraudulent\u2019 Iran coverage<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The New York Times<\/em>\u2019 claim was later on Tuesday denied by Trump, who described it as \u201cfake news\u201d and said, \u201cHopefully we\u2019re not going to have to plan for that. And if we did that, we\u2019d send a hell of a lot more troops than that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Later on Friday, Trump tweeted that \u201cthe Fake News Media is hurting our Country with its fraudulent and highly inaccurate coverage of Iran.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

GRAPHIC LANGUAGE WARNING – Media's reporting of Iran 'total b***sh*t': Trump pic.twitter.com\/dLw4aQhYTd<\/a><\/p>\n

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 17, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n