A spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has denied claims by US President Donald Trump’s that Washington has a backchannel open with Tehran, calling the statement a “delusion” caused by “failure” in the war.

Speaking to the Tasnim news agency, IRGC Spokesperson Brigadier General Hossein Mohebbi stresses there are no talks whatsoever between IRGC officials and the US.

“There is no dialogue taking place between IRGC officials and the Americans,” Mohebbi says, describing Trump’s claim as “merely fantasies caused by the delusions and nightmares resulting from defeat and desperation in the war” of aggression against Iran.

The spokesman adds that the IRGC is “the arm and voice of the power of the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic” and makes its position clear on the battlefield.