ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump said Sunday he had agreed to hold talks with Iran's new leadership even as US-Israeli strikes on the country continue.

"They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk," Trump told The Atlantic, adding that Iran should have made concessions earlier. "They waited too long," he said.

Trump said he cannot tell when such a discussion may take place, noting that some of the Iranian officials who had been involved in recent negotiations are no longer alive.

In a separate interview, he told Fox News that 48 Iranian leaders had been eliminated "in one shot," saying "nobody can believe the success we're having." He added that the US knew how many targets remained and that operations were moving "rapidly."

Speaking to CNBC, Trump said military operations were "ahead of schedule."

On concerns about oil prices and potential disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping lane, he was dismissive. "I'm not concerned about anything," he said. "I just do what's right. At the end, it works out," he told Fox News. "This could have been a huge price increase with respect to oil, if things went wrong," he told The Atlantic.

The remarks came as the attack on Iran entered its second day. The joint US-Israeli operation, launched Saturday, has killed several senior Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Tehran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Gulf countries. Three US service members have been killed and five seriously wounded since operations began, US Central Command said.