Regarding the recent Iranian attack on the Israeli-owned Liberian-flagged oil tanker Mercer Street, off the coast of Oman, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked by a reported about a potential US response on Tuesday. Psaki replied that “as a severing country, Israel is going to make their own decisions.”

Although this statement may appear at first glance as a green light for Israel to retaliate as they see fit, Psaki also stated that despite the attack, the much-anticipated nuclear deal is still not only on the table, but a necessity.

“Our view is that every single challenge and threat would be made more pronounced and dangerous by an unconstrained nuclear program” Psaki said at the press conference.

“Put another way, constraining their program by returning to the JCPOA will put us in a better position to address the other problems. It doesn’t mean it will take care of the other issues that have been ongoing concerns we had with Iran. They are bad actors on the global stage, they threatened our own military as we all know. We continue to believe pursuing a diplomatic path forward, pursuing an opportunity to make sure we have greater visibility into what their nuclear capabilities are is in our national interest.”