Washington. A day after Tehran dismissed US President Donald Trump’s 15-point ceasefire plan, the American leader claimed on Thursday that Iran was “begging to make a deal,” and that he wasn’t the one pushing for negotiations. 

The president, speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting, said he wanted to “set the record straight” that he isn’t the one pushing for a deal.

“They’re begging to make a deal, not me,” Trump said.

Iranian officials have denied that they’re negotiating with the United States as the war continues in its fourth week. Trump insisted they are.

“Anybody would know they’re talking,” Trump said. “They’re not fools, they’re very smart actually, in a certain way. And they’re great negotiators. I say they’re lousy fighters but they’re great negotiators.”

Earlier Thursday, Trump told Tehran to “get serious soon” on negotiating a deal to end the war.

Iran has been blocking ships it perceives as linked to the US and Israeli war effort from the Strait of Hormuz, but it's letting a trickle of others through the crucial waterway. Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a bloc of six Gulf Arab nations, said Iran was charging for safe passage through the strait.

Meanwhile, the US was preparing for the arrival of thousands of troops that could be used on the ground in Iran.

Iran Is Ready for ‘Any Scenario’
The top Iranian envoy to United Nations institutions in Geneva has warned in an interview that any attempt by Israel and the United States to mount a ground invasion of Iran would be a “big” mistake.

Ali Bahreini said Iran is winning the war and has forced the US and Israel to back off from their initial goals. He says those have now been reduced to trying to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for shipments to countries dependent on oil from the Persian Gulf.

Bahreini also said Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is “safe” and running the country. Khamenei has not been seen or directly heard from since he was named to replace his slain father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Asked why Khamenei hasn’t been seen, the ambassador cited “security arrangements which are very necessary for this particular time.”

Trump Says US ‘Doesn’t Need the Hormuz Strait’
Asked by a reporter how close he was to marshaling a coalition of partners to help protect tankers moving through the strait, Trump said the US. has “so much oil — our country is not affected by this.”

The narrow waterway typically sees a fifth of the world’s oil exit the Persian Gulf through it to reach customers worldwide, particularly in Asia, and blockages there have sent oil prices near $120 per barrel at times.

And although it’s true that the United States doesn’t get a massive percentage of its oil from resources moving through the strait, the price of oil is set on the global market.

Iran’s stranglehold on the waterway has raised prices at the pump for drivers over the world. The nationwide average price of gas is up more than a dollar from just a month earlier.