Democratic Sen. Accuses Trump Of 'Lying' About Iran Talks: 'We Know'

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen accused President Donald Trump of lying about the nature of eventual discussions with Iran as Tehran also rejects such a scenario is taking place.

We know he's lying when he says that the Iranians are talking with us and they're about to give Donald Trump everything he wants. Yes, that's a lie," Van Hollen said in an interview on CNN.

Trump told press on Monday that there were conversations taking place and that his administration is dealing with new leaders that he finds "to be very reasonable, very solid."

"The people within know who they are. They're very respected. And maybe one of them will be exactly what we're looking for," Trump added. He added that the person in question is not the new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

There was speculation about the possibility that the official in question was Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. However, he said in a social media post that "no negotiations have been held with the U.S." and that any claims on the matter were aimed at manipulating financial and energy markets.

Elsewhere, three senior Israeli officials gave Reuters a dim view of any negotiations taking place at the moment, which Trump called "very good and productive" in a social media post on Monday.

Tehran has rejected there are ongoing talks and outlined several demands to end hostilities, including guarantees to ensure a ceasefire won't be broken and compensation for the attacks that it has sustained since February 28.

In another passage of the interview, Van Hollen said attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure could amount to war crimes and Trump should be held accountable if it comes to that. He went on to express hope that Trump will not order such strikes if his deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz expires later this week.

However, if he does, "the president should be held accountable in international tribunals or in the United States," Van Hollen said. "When people commit war crimes, we need systems to hold people accountable."

Asked about how that could look like, he said: "When he leaves office, he could still be vulnerable to accountability through the courts and obviously there are international tribunals as well." "Hopefully we won't get to that point," he concluded.