US President Donald Trump has “always wanted to see that option for diplomacy”, Tommy Pigott, the US State Department spokesperson, has told Al Jazeera. He said Trump’s objectives have been “crystal clear” that “the Iranian regime cannot have a nuclear weapon”. “The option for diplomacy was given before Operation Midnight Hammer, after Operation Midnight Hammer, and yet we saw that pursuit of a nuclear weapon by the Iranian regime. That is an intolerable threat to the United States and to the world,” Pigott claimed.
