US President Donald Trump characterised Iranian leaders as "great negotiators" but said their country had "lousy fighters" during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday.
"They're lousy fighters, but they're great negotiators, and they are begging to work out a deal," Trump said at the White House alongside top officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth.
Trump suggested that a deal might not ultimately come together.
"I don't know if we'll be able to do that," he said of the prospects for a deal. I don't know if we're willing to do that."
Earlier in the day, in a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that Iran had been "begging" for a deal but has publicly maintained that they are just "looking at our proposal".
Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that the US proposal to end the war was "one-sided and unfair".
"In brief, the proposal suggests that Iran would relinquish its ability to defend itself in exchange for a vague plan to lift sanctions. It is one-sided and unfair, serving only US and Israeli interests", the official said.
He called Iranian negotiators "strange" and warned them to start taking things seriously before "it is too late".
Read | Trump's "Better Get Serious, No Turning Back" Warning For War-Hit Iran
"The Iranian negotiators are very different and "strange." They are "begging" us to make a deal, which they should be doing since they have been militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback, and yet they publicly state that they are only "looking at our proposal." WRONG!!! They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won't be pretty! President DJT," Trump wrote.
Trump's comments come after he claimed Iran was desperate to make a deal to end nearly four weeks of fighting, contradicting the Iranian foreign minister who said his country was reviewing a US proposal but had no intention of holding talks to wind down the conflict.
Trump has accused Tehran officials of covering up ongoing talks for fear of becoming assassination targets following the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Trump's warning came as Israel said it had killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' navy, calling him "directly responsible" for throttling the Strait of Hormuz since the war's outbreak.
But Pakistan confirmed Thursday it was indeed facilitating "US-Iran indirect talks" by relaying messages and that a 15-point American plan was being "deliberated upon" by Tehran.
The White House has declined to identify the "top person" it is speaking with in Iran -- beyond saying it is not the late leader's son Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to be injured and has not been seen since succeeding his father.
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