A senior White House official and Trump aide, Miller, said in an interview on April 16 that the United States can maintain the blockade of Iranian ports indefinitely. He stated that the core position of the U.S. is to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and the current blockade has severely damaged Iran's economy. The U.S. has the capacity for long-term enforcement; at the same time, he said Trump has no intention of military strikes against Iran's energy facilities and hopes Iran will return to the negotiating track.