Trump says Iran negotiating, claims leaders are 'afraid' to be killed
President Donald Trump said Wednesday night that the U.S. and Iran are negotiating, alleging that leaders in Tehran are eager to make a deal but afraid to confirm that talks are ongoing despite Iranian officials denying that negotiations have been underway.
"And 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. They're also afraid they'll be killed by us," Trump said during the annual National Republican Congressional Committee dinner hosted at Union Station in Washington, D.C.
Trump also seemed to imply difficulty in finding someone willing to take on Iranian leadership.
"There's never been a head of a country that wanted that job less than being the head of Iran. 'I don't want it.' We listen to some of the things they say. We hear very clearly, they say, 'I don't want it.' 'We'd like to make you the next Supreme Leader,' 'No, thank you. I don't want it,'" Trump said.
Trump also again alluded to Iran firing a huge barrage of missiles at a key U.S. asset in the region following comments he made in the Oval Office on Tuesday that Iran "shot 100 missiles at one of our aircraft carriers, one of the biggest ships in the world, actually."
"You know, we had an attack. 100 missiles were shot by Iran at a very important thing that we had. I won't tell you what it was," Trump told the crowd.
"And of the 100 missiles coming at us, 100 missiles were immediately shot down, shot out of the air, fall into the sea. Think of it. Not one missile got through. That was the Patriot system," he added.
-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr and Emily Chang
