WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Monday that he believes Iran wants to make a deal to end the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Tehran but that it is unclear who is actually leading Iran.
“We don’t know who their leader is. We have people wanting to negotiate. We have no idea who they are,” Trump told reporters during a White House event.
After Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed in the initial strikes of the war, Tehran announced his son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, had been named as his successor. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said last week the new leader was believed to have been wounded in a strike. He has not been seen publicly.
“A lot of people are saying that he’s badly disfigured. They’re saying that he lost his leg … and he’s been hurt very badly. Other people are saying he’s dead,” Trump said.
Oman has attempted multiple times to open a line of communication between the United States and Iran, but the White House made it clear it is not interested at this juncture, Reuters reported on Saturday.
(Reporting by Bo Erickson and Steve Holland;Editing by David Ljunggren)
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