US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran has been privately pressing Washington to negotiate an end to the war, but argued that Tehran is not yet prepared to reach an agreement.

Axar.az informs that speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Manila on Thursday, Rubio said Iran had approached the United States both directly and indirectly to seek talks.

“Iran is begging us, both directly and indirectly, ‘Let’s do a deal. Let’s talk,'” Rubio said.

“The problem with Iran is every time they make a deal, the people in charge either break it or they want to change it. So it looks like they’re not ready to make a deal, so they’re going to continue to pay a price, and every night the price gets higher and higher," he added.