Middle East crisis live: Trump claims Iranian supreme leader is involved in US negotiations

Donald Trump said Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is involved in talks to end the war and that he would “like to meet him”.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since the Iran war began, and has only addressed the nation through written statements read out by television anchors. US officials have claimed Khamenei was incapacitated or undergoing treatment for severe injuries sustained in the same bombing that killed his father, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war.

“He’s involved. Absolutely,” the US president told the New York Post. “Yeah, I think they have a lot of respect for him.”

When asked about Khamenei’s condition, Trump said: “I don’t know, I haven’t had the privilege of meeting him.”

He added: “If you believe the stories he is, you know, missing a lot of different parts.”

Trump was asked whether he would meet with Khamenei, he replied: “Yeah, I’d like to meet him. I’d like to meet everybody … We probably will meet at some point, depending on how it all works out.”