
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. AFP
Iran, for its part, has rejected the possibility of any ceasefire until US and Israeli strikes end, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters, adding that several countries had been trying to mediate an end to the conflict.
Oman, which mediated talks before the war, has tried multiple times to open a line of communication, but the White House has made clear it is not interested, according to two sources, who, like others in this story, were granted anonymity in order to speak freely about diplomatic matters.
A senior White House official confirmed to Reuters that Trump has rebuffed those efforts to start talks and is focused on pressing ahead with the war to further weaken Tehran's military capabilities.
"He's not interested in that right now, and we're going to continue with the mission unabated. Maybe there's a day, but not right now," the official told Reuters.
Egypt, which was involved in mediation before the war, has also tried to reopen communications, according to three security and diplomatic sources.
While the efforts do not appear to have made progress, they have secured some military restraint from neighboring countries hit by Iran, according to one of the sources who spoke to Reuters.
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