U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday said there were "fractures" in Iran's new leadership, as President Donald Trump described talks between Washington and Tehran as progressing.
Early on March 30, Trump wrote on Truth Social that his administration is now engaged in negotiations with a more reasonable group of people in charge of the Iranian regime, coming as the war with the country has surpassed the one-month mark. Since the start of the Feb. 28 conflict, the U.S. and Israeli militaries have killed dozens of Iranian officials, including then-top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“I’m not going to disclose to you who those people are, because it probably would get them in trouble with some other groups of people inside of Iran,” Rubio told ABC News' "Good Morning America" on March 30 when asked about the Iranian officials who are in talks with the U.S. government.
Additional details were not provided by Rubio, but he said that there are "some fractures going on there internally" within the Iranian regime.
"And at the end of the day," he added, "I think that if there are people in Iran who now, given everything that’s happened, are willing to move in a different direction for their country, that would be great.”
While Trump has said that negotiations are occurring, some Iranian officials have disputed the idea that any communication has occurred on ending the war. A spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in comments carried by state-run Tasnim News, said that Tehran has not had any direct talks with the Trump administration.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who has repeatedly dismissed the idea that there are any talks occurring, said that the U.S. comments on negotiations are meant to serve as cover for more U.S. attacks, as 2,500 Marines trained in amphibious landings arrived in the Middle East in recent days.
He stated Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” according to state media.
Trump on Monday threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure if a deal to end the war with Tehran is not reached in a timely manner.
“Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!),” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Since the conflict erupted, the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which generally carries around 20 percent of the world's oil supplies, has been effectively shut down as Iran has threatened ships in the region.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil increased to around $115 on Monday, a rise of 2.5 percent from the previous trading period. Meanwhile, West Texas International crude oil increased by 2.8 percent to $102 per barrel.