ERBil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday denied US President Donald Trump’s claims of Iranian officials requesting a halt to the overnight attacks, calling it a cover-up “to escape war.”

Early on Thursday, senior Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst cited Donald Trump as saying top Iranian officials had called him directly to request a halt to US bombing attacks.

Trump said the US operation involved launching 49 Tomahawk missiles and deploying fighter jets to strike Iranian radar and air defense systems, including targets about 40 miles outside Tehran and along Iran’s southwestern coast near the Persian Gulf. 

“Trump's claim that Iranian officials contacted him is strongly denied and is a cover to escape war,” the IRGC's public relations was cited by state-owned IRNA news agency as saying.

A senior official also described Trump's claims as “a complete lie,” and a cover-up to escape the war, state broadcaster IRIB reported.

Trump has further warned Iran of delays in signing an agreement, telling Yingst that “we’ll bomb the S– out of them tomorrow.” 

The developments came after the United States early Thursday launched fresh attacks against Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate and strike American bases in the region, as the exchange of attacks seemingly erodes hopes for a peace deal. 

Earlier in the day, Trump had lamented that Tehran was taking too long to reach a deal, coming after Iranian strikes on Israel, in retaliation for the latter's continued bombardment of Lebanon, threw a spanner in the works of the negotiating process.