A senior Iranian source said Sunday that Tehran would halt its own attacks as long as Washington maintains its own pause on strikes, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the war would continue until Iran’s regime falls or is forced to give up on its nuclear program.

Speaking to Reuters, the Iranian source said Tehran remains skeptical of US intentions, even as the US held its fire on Iran for the second consecutive night, after 13 straight nights of strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, the largest rekindling of the conflict since an April ceasefire.

“Iran’s position remains ‘attack for attack’: If the attacks stop, Iran will also halt its operations. That message has already been conveyed to the United States,” the source said. “There is more skepticism than optimism about the halt in attacks. The prevailing view is that the pause is tactical rather than genuine.”

The lull in US attacks on Iran reportedly followed the advice of Brad Cooper, the US military’s Central Command chief, that the Hormuz bombings had largely reached the limit of their effectiveness and that the US should halt them unless it is prepared to broaden the conflict.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told “Fox News Sunday” that the US remained “locked and loaded” for more attacks on Iran and that “more assets have gone into the region,” but that US President Donald Trump was giving “some space” for peace talks.

“He’s giving it a little bit of room,” Waltz said.

Also on Fox News, Netanyahu said Iran’s nuclear program must come to an end “with a deal or without a deal,” and threatened to hit back hard if Iran or its proxies attack Israel.

The conflict with Iran will end either when the regime falls or when it “realize[s] that the........

© The Times of Israel