ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump said Washington is negotiating with Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and that the US would know within a week whether the two sides could work together.

“We're gonna find out,” Trump told the New York Post. “I'll let you know that in about a week.”

The remarks follow Trump's earlier comment that the US was speaking to "a top person" in Iran, but that he could not reveal who, adding: "I don't want them to be killed." The Trump administration has also been quietly weighing Qalibaf as a potential partner and even a future leader of Iran, Politico reported last week.

Iran said it has not held any direct negotiations with the US, saying recent contacts were limited to messages conveyed through intermediaries.

Trump described what he called a fundamental shift in Iran’s leadership, saying the previous leaders had been replaced by figures he found easier to engage.

"There has been total regime change because the regimes of the past are gone and we're dealing with a whole new set of people," he said, adding they were "much more reasonable."

On Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, son of late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Trump said the leader had not been seen publicly and was believed to be gravely wounded.

When asked whether Mojtaba was still alive, Trump said Washington believed he probably is, but in “extraordinarily bad shape.”

Commenting on Iranian strikes on regional infrastructure, including attacks in Kuwait and Haifa in Israel, Trump said the US response would be seen shortly.

Regional tensions have continued to escalate since Israel and the US launched an offensive against Iran on Feb. 28, killing more than 1,340 people to date, including Ali Khamenei.

Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, causing casualties and damage to infrastructure while disrupting global markets and aviation.