An Iranian official has dismissed comments from US President Donald Trump that it is “getting more serious” about negotiations, even suggesting that Tehran welcomed the prospect of a ground invasion by American troops.
“Our war with the enemy is a war of attrition, one that will not end,” the military official – named by Iranian media as General Asadi – said Saturday.
“We ask God that the ground forces of the aggressor American army find themselves in a position where we can engage them on the ground.”
The exchange of words came after almost two weeks in which the US has conducted strikes across Iran in the most serious escalation since a Memorandum of Understanding dialed down hostilities between the two sides.
Trump said on Friday that the US and Iran are talking and that he believes Tehran is getting “more serious.”
“We are talking to them. I think they’re getting more and more serious as the days go by, for maybe the obvious reason, but we are talking to them right now,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump also said Friday that he thought Iran would “love to make a deal” but he didn’t “think they’re ready to.”
His comments came after he met with advisers to discuss a possible escalation of the war, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
“Washington is now seeking to change the playing field and transform the bilateral Iran-US crisis into a confrontation between Iran and the international community,” according to a commentary in the semi-official Nour News on Saturday. Nour News is close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
Referring to US accusations that Iran has blocked shipping from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the commentary added: “The country that is today accused of threatening global trade was previously attacked twice in the middle of negotiation processes.”