‘Very interested’: White House says Trump may ask Arab countries to fund Iran war

Asked at a news conference whether Arab countries would step up to help pay for the war, Levitt said she wouldn’t get ahead of the Republican president, but that it was Trump’s idea.

“I think the president is interested in calling them to do this,” Levitt said.

“I know he has that in mind and I think you’re going to hear more from him.”

Levitt said talks with Iran were continuing and going well, adding that Tehran’s public statements differed from what it told U.S. officials privately, and that Iran privately agreed with some of Washington’s views.

“Despite all the public posturing and false reports you heard from the regime, negotiations continued and were going well. Of course, what was said publicly was very different from what was communicated to us privately,” Levitt said.

She warned that anything Iran said privately to Washington would be tested and the United States would hold Tehran accountable for its commitments.

Trump warned earlier on Monday that Iran’s energy plants and oil wells would be destroyed if the Strait of Hormuz was not opened, after Tehran called U.S. peace proposals “unrealistic” and fired waves of missiles at Israel.

(Reporting by Beau Erickson and Ryan Patrick Jones; Writing by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Michelle Nichols)