President Donald Trump has insisted Iran is “dying” to make a deal despite major setbacks in peace talks and a chilling new threat from the Iranian supreme leader.
“I don't call it a war,” Trump said while taking questions in the Oval Office Thursday. “I mean, Iran is dying to make a deal. ... They want to make a deal. But despite the fact that we are in what some people would call a war, we just hit a new high today on the stock market.”
His remarks come after Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is reportedly severely injured and communicating from a hospital bed, declared a vision for a “future free of America” in the Persian Gulf.
“Those aliens who, from thousands of kilometers away, greedily sow mischief in that [the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman], have no place there except in the depths of its waters,” the statement, conveyed through top security officials, said.
Despite his grave injuries, Mr. Khamenei, who has not been seen since his appointment in March, is described as mentally healthy and actively managing the country by delegating significant responsibilities to generals within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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Iran-US war latest: Trump says Tehran ‘badly’ wants a deal but ‘nobody knows who the leaders are’
