ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – United States President Donald Trump on Monday claimed he has received messages from Iran, through intermediaries, asking to deescalate tensions, urging Tehran to re-enter nuclear negotiations before it is too late.

Tensions have escalated between Iran and Israel over the past few days, after Israel launched a large-scale offensive early Friday, targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities across the country and killing over 200 people, including dozens of high-profile military commanders and nuclear scientists.

Iran has responded to the strikes, firing hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones toward Israeli territories, most of which have been intercepted by Israel’s air defenses. The Iranian strikes have killed at least 24 people and wounded over 500 others.

The escalations came days before Tehran and Washington were set to enter a sixth round of nuclear talks, mediated by Oman. The meeting was cancelled in light of the attacks.

Citing European and Middle Eastern officials, the Wall Street Journal on Monday reported that Iran has signaled its desire to resume nuclear talks and end the hostilities in messages conveyed to the US and Israel through Arab intermediaries.

Before a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Alberta, Trump was asked whether he has seen any signals or messages from Iran that they would like to deescalate, to which he replied: “Yes… They’d like to talk.”

“It's painful for both parties, but I'd say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it's too late,” Trump added, refusing to comment on what it would take for Washington to get involved in the conflict.

In a post on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that if Trump is “genuine” about diplomacy and wants to stop the conflict, he must call on Israel to stop its aggression.

Araghchi called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a wanted war criminal” and “a con man,” and accused him of preventing a deal between Tehran and Washington “which were on the right path to achieve.”

“Our powerful Armed Forces are making clear to the world that the war criminals hiding in shelters in Tel Aviv will not go unpunished for their crimes. We will continue to pummel the cowards for as long as needed to make sure that they are no longer firing at our people,” said the Iranian top diplomat.

“It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like [Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy,” he added.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday said that G7 wants “de-escalation” between Iran and Israel, warning that an expansion of the conflict would have “immense” regional and global implications.

Israel on Monday targeted Iran’s state broadcaster, IRIB, in Tehran, with Defense Minister Israel Katz calling it a part of Tel Aviv’s efforts to “strike the Iranian dictator everywhere.” Iran condemned the attack as “a wicked act of war crime,” calling on the UN Security Council to stop Israel from “committing further atrocities” against the Iranian people.