00:00I am not in a position to confirm the reports coming out of Tehran.
00:07I've seen the statement that Hamas put out.
00:10I can't confirm or verify. We have no independent confirmation.
00:14But I can state that I also have no conversations around that reporting that I can speak to today.
00:26I think it's too soon to know what any of these reported events could mean for the ceasefire deal.
00:34But if I could add two points, one is that doesn't mean we're going to stop working on it.
00:38In fact, we have a team in the region right now as we speak to try to continue to work with our counterparts
00:44to move this forward because it's that important.
00:47And number two, as I kind of alluded to earlier, it's always been complicated work.
00:51And it's not like the complications with every passing day get easier.
00:56And that includes today.
00:58Our job since the beginning of this conflict, in addition to making sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself,
01:04in addition to making sure the people of Gaza aren't suffering more than they already are, is to manage risk in the region.
01:10One of the things the President's been very focused on is trying to prevent escalation here.
01:14That work is complicated and difficult every day, and that includes today.
01:20We don't believe that an escalation is inevitable, and there's no signs that an escalation is imminent.
01:28But I also said that we watch it very, very closely.
01:31I also said just and said again today that this is something that we've been concerned about since the 7th of October.
01:37It's not like we're brushing off concerns at all.
01:39We're watching this very, very closely, and it's been a chief concern of the President.
01:43And will the White House be urging restraint from Israel following this?
01:46I'm not going to talk about our diplomatic discussions with our Israeli counterparts.
01:51We have been working hard to keep this war from escalating, just as we've been working very hard
01:57and are today to make sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself.
02:01Look, you've seen the comments by the Supreme Leader and what he said publicly.
02:04It's out there for everybody to see.
02:06I'll certainly not speculate about whether and to what degree Iran does anything.
02:16What I can tell you is we have and will maintain a level of readiness to preserve our national security interest in the region.
02:25It's not like we take a blind eye to what Iran is capable of doing and has shown their capability of doing in the region.
02:31It's not like we've demonstrated an unwillingness to defend Israel from threats in the region, including from Iran, if that happens.
02:40And we maintain that capability and that readiness to do so now.
02:43Based on the constructive conversations that we had with the prime minister last week, we still believe that this is a worthy endeavor.
02:50We still believe that the gaps can be narrowed, the details can be fleshed out, and a deal can be had.
02:55Now, again, it's too soon to know what these recent events over the last 24, 48 hours are going to do to the process.
03:00I don't want to sound overly sanguine here, but we still believe the deal on the table is worth pursuing and the hostages need to come home.
03:09And we're not going to stop trying to work on that.
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