White House says Trump prefers diplomacy over Iran, but will not rule out military options

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday diplomacy remains the preferred approach for the United States to deal with Iran, though the Trump administration will not rule out military options if necessary.

U.S. "President (Donald) Trump has always expressed that diplomacy is the first option," Leavitt said on Fox News. "However, he is unafraid to use the lethal force and might of the United States military if and when he deems that necessary."

"What President Trump will do next only he knows, so the world will have to keep waiting and guessing, and we will let him decide," she said, refusing to discuss any potential U.S. actions or policy decisions concerning Iran.

Leavitt said the U.S. forces last year "totally obliterated" the Iranian nuclear program, which she described as the Middle Eastern country's "greatest leverage."

Trump said Sunday his administration is weighing "some very strong options" including potential military action against Iran, claiming Iran was "starting" to cross the U.S. red line.

The U.S. president is scheduled to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine on Tuesday to weigh U.S. options, which could include boosting antigovernment sources online, deploying secretive cyber weapons against Iranian military and civilian sites, placing more sanctions on Iran and military strikes, as well as the possibility of the U.S. sending terminals of Starlink, a satellite-based internet service owned by Elon Musk, into Iran for the first time during the Trump administration, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday. ■