🔻US ambassador to the UN: The US army has no shortage of air defense

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations denied reports of a shortage of U.S. air-defense weapons in the region and said that “the U.S. Army … has everything it needs to carry out this operation with the necessary effectiveness.”

Mike Waltz also told NBC News: “Those who leak these baseless claims to the outside deserve to be imprisoned.”

NBC News, citing two senior U.S. officials, had said that U.S. military commanders, as part of an effort to preserve weapons stockpiles, allow some of Iran’s attacks to pass through America’s air-defense defenses.

Mr. Waltz also said that negotiations via intermediaries have been underway in recent weeks and especially in the past few days.

He told Fox News: “As the president said, we are fully prepared and equipped, and more forces and resources are being deployed to the region of operations. However, he is giving negotiations a chance and allowing a bit of room for advancing the dialogue.”

“Over the past weeks and especially in the past few days, Oman and Iran and several of our other negotiators have been engaged in this process at all levels, from the highest echelons to the professional and technical levels.”

Some U.S. media have said that the halt of U.S. strikes occurred after the visit of an Omani delegation to Tehran on Friday.