US President Donald Trump said Monday that he does not know whether Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still alive, adding that Washington was unclear whom it could negotiate with in Tehran.
"We don't know... if he's dead or not," Trump told reporters at the White House.
"A lot of people are saying that he's badly disfigured. They're saying that he lost his leg -- one leg -- and he's, you know, been hurt very badly. Other people are saying he's dead. Nobody's saying he's 100 percent healthy. You know he hasn't spoken."
"We don't know who we're dealing with" in Iran, Trump said. "We don't know who their leader is."
Trump described conditions for Iranian opposition groups as tough, saying the government was killing demonstrators.
The protesters did not have guns, he said during a White House event.
Trump stepped up the pressure on Britain and France, saying he expected them to help secure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz during the war against Iran.
Trump said he had talked with French President Emmanuel Macron about it and his response had been "an eight, not perfect."
"I think he's going to help," Trump said, adding that he also believed Britain would be involved in a Hormuz mission.
