US President Donald Trump has insisted that Iran is taking part in peace talks but is reluctant to publicly acknowledge it, suggesting Iranian negotiators fear being killed by their own side.
"They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly, but they're afraid to say it, because they figure they'll be killed by their own people," Trump told a dinner for Republican members of Congress on Wednesday.
"They're also afraid they'll be killed by us," he added at the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner.
Trump said Iran is eager to negotiate as a US war continues.
He also said there has never been a head of a country who wanted that role less than leading Iran.
"I don't want it… 'We would like to make you the next Supreme Leader.' No thank you. I don't want it," he said.
The US is "decimating" Iran, he added.
"I won't use the word 'war'… I'll use the word 'military operation,' which is really what it is. It's called a military decimation," he said.
Escalation continues
Regional tensions have escalated since February 28, when the United States and Israel launched a joint war on Iran that has killed more than 1,340 people.
Iran has responded with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and Gulf countries hosting US military assets.
Thirteen US service members have been killed and around 290 others injured since the operation began.
