US not seeking war with Iran - official

WASHINGTON, July 16 (KUNA) -- US Defense Secretary nominee Mark Esper affirmed Tuesday that his country is "not seeking" a war with Iran, stressing the need to getting back on the diplomatic channel.
"We do not want war with Iran. We are not seeking war with Iran. We need to get back on the diplomatic channel," Esper told the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing.
Asked if he thinks that diplomatic path is the most thoughtful way to proceed, he responded "diplomacy always is." Esper also noted that Washington is trying to "foreclose the opportunity for any miscalculation and misunderstanding by developing a concept called Operation Sentinel whereby we do passive patrolling if you will, in the Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Iran, and Arabian Gulf to deter any provocative acts by the Iranians or the IRGC.
"At the same time, from the highest levels of government, from the President himself we said we will meet anytime, anywhere without precondition to discuss with the Iranians to get us on the diplomatic path," he added.
"One idea we have from a DOD (Department of Defense) perspective was to develop this Operation Sentinel, whereby we working with our allies and partners in the region provide monitoring of the Strait of Hormuz, the Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, provide escorts and sentries to put ourselves in a place where we deter a provocation or a miscalculation," said Esper.
"No better way was that most demonstrated in recently where an IRGC watercraft approached a British owned vessel carrying oil and it was and they likely would've either assaulted it or brought it into the Iranian shore and created an international incident were it not for a British warship intervening," he noted.
"Just a simple thing of appearing on the scene and the warship putting itself in between the IRGC boats and the merchant vessel was enough to deter something that could've escalated out of control," he continued.
"That's the type of concept we're trying to vision DOD throughout the strait so we don't get into a military fight. We push it into the diplomatic realm," noted Esper.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House "we're not looking for regime change" in Iran, stressing "we want them out of Yemen." He added "they'd like to talk, and we'll see what happens," and reiterated "they can't have a nuclear weapon." For his part, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was present next to Trump, said "for the first time, the Iranians said they are ready to negotiate on their missile program." (end) si.ma