After warnings from the army chief of retaliation if the United States attacks Iran, more conciliatory words came from the country on Saturday evening.
Ali Larijani, head of Iran's National Security Council, said, according to AFP, that "structural arrangements for negotiations are moving forward," despite what he described as reports of war fabricated by the media.
At the same time, President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that a conflict would harm both Iran and the United States.
Iran has never sought, and in no way seeks, war, he said, according to the presidential office, in a conversation with Egyptian leader Abdel al-Fattah al-Sisi.
The US president, for his part, told Fox News that negotiations are taking place quietly.
(Iran) is talking to us, and we'll see if we can do anything; otherwise we'll see what happens. We have a large fleet on its way there.
Donald Trump has threatened to take action against the regime in Tehran over the violence used against protesters. The US military has previously announced that it will conduct a multi-day exercise in the Middle East, led by the Air Force.
