US President Trump said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “should be very worried,” amid growing concerns that diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between Washington and Tehran are collapsing, raising the possibility of renewed military conflict.

Trump made the remarks in an interview with NBC News, when asked whether Khamenei should be concerned about the current situation.

“He should be very worried,” Trump said.

The comments come as reports indicate that attempts to establish a diplomatic off-ramp between the United States and Iran are falling apart, even as Trump insisted that talks are still ongoing.

“They’re negotiating with us,” Trump said.

During the interview, NBC reporter Tom Llamas pressed Trump about Iranian anti-regime protesters, who have repeatedly called for US intervention as the regime continues a violent crackdown in an attempt to suppress unrest.

Llamas noted that many Iranian protesters feel betrayed by Trump, who had previously encouraged them to take to the streets and voiced support for their cause. According to reports, thousands were killed in subsequent crackdowns, and Trump later claimed he had intervened to prevent the execution of another 800 protesters.

“We do have their back,” Trump said. “That country is a mess right now because of us. We went in, and we wiped out their nuclear program,” Trump claimed, referring to US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel last June.

Trump added that Iran’s military and defense capabilities are currently “a mess” due to US intervention.

After again claiming that Iran’s entire nuclear program had been obliterated, Trump was asked why nuclear talks are even necessary if there is nothing left to negotiate over.

Trump responded that Iran has since attempted to rebuild its nuclear program at other locations, and warned that this would prompt another US strike.

“I want peace in the Middle East,” Trump said. “If we didn’t take out that nuclear, we wouldn’t have peace in the Middle East.”

Trump has avoided addressing reports that some Iranian nuclear sites were not targeted in the US strikes and that the location of already-enriched uranium stockpiles remains unknown — points that undermine his repeated claim that Iran’s nuclear program was fully destroyed.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)