As tensions in the Persian Gulf continued to ramp up on Friday afternoon amid news that Iran had seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Army Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, concluded that Iran does not want to start a war with the U.S. or its allies.

Answering a question posed by CNN national security correspondent Jim Sciutto in Aspen, Colo., about the latest incident, Ashley declined to give a specific response to the news, but later said that none of the United States’ major adversaries or competitors, including Iran, China and Russia, wants to start a war. “The outcome would be very horrific for all,” he said.

Just yesterday, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif said he was willing to talk to U.S. senators about a new deal to avoid further conflict.

Since President Trump announced last year he was pulling out of the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, the U.S. and Iran have traded barbs, escalating in severity under the leadership of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton. The State Department in April designated the Iranian military, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as a terrorist organization — a worrying move for U.S. military personnel who were soon declared terrorists by Iranian officials in turn. Read more

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As tensions in the Persian Gulf continued to ramp up on Friday afternoon amid news that Iran had seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Army Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, concluded that Iran does not want to start a war with the U.S. or its allies.

As tensions in the Persian Gulf continued to ramp up on Friday afternoon amid news that Iran had seized a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Army Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, concluded that Iran does not want to start a war with the U.S. or its allies.