President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
Delegations from the U.S. and Iran entered negotiations in June aimed at a war-ending deal based on a memorandum of understanding signed by both countries.
The U.S. and Iran have nonetheless continued to exchange strikes, with the strategic Strait of Hormuz as the primary flashpoint.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News and NewsNation on Thursday morning that the administration remains focused on upping the economic pressure on Iran.
"They are in a devastating place. Inflation is over 100%. They can't pay their police. They can't pay their military. They're in a very vacant position already," Leavitt said of the government in Tehran.
President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are "continuing to pull every economic lever," Leavitt said.
Leavitt noted that there are no negotiations currently happening and added that the president still retains "all options."
"The naval blockade continues to be in effect as well, which has proven hugely successful," she said.
"No negotiations are happening right now, and this will continue until the president feels that maybe they come to the table in a meaningful way. We have not seen that yet, but of course, that's at the discretion of the president as commander in chief," Leavitt said.
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre on Thursday said it received a report of a tanker being attacked in the Strait of Hormuz.
The ship was "hit by an unknown projectile causing fire to the vessel which has since been extinguished," the UKMTO said in its alert.
There were no reported casualties or environmental damage, the UKMTO said.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, said Iran remains in a wartime situation and its nuclear sites have not been secured for inspection.
Eslami also said the International Atomic Energy Agency cannot request inspections until it draws up a protocol.
"The facilities that have now been subjected to military strikes were all registered with the IAEA, and the Agency has been conducting continuous inspections of them. The fact that the Agency does not protest or condemn these attacks calls its competence and independence into question," he said.
"In a situation where the Agency has no such protocol and also takes no stance, it is only the U.S. and Israel that are exerting pressure for the Agency to visit and inspect the destroyed sites. The reason for this pressure is that they want to see what has happened to these sites as a result of the military operation they conducted," Eslami said.
-ABC News' Desiree Adib
President Donald Trump said he was in “no rush” to negotiate the end of the Iran war, even as the conflict nears its six-month mark.
“I have no time schedule, none,” Trump reportedly told Al Jazeera in a brief interview on Wednesday.
When asked by the reporter whether economic sanctions or military strikes are more effective in his campaign against Iran, Trump said they are "both effective."
The U.S. announced that they are upping economic pressure on Iran and possibly Iran's trading partners.
