US President Donald Trump urged the Iranian authorities to call him while continuing its sanctions on Iranian people.

At an event in the White House, Trump avoided explaining why the Lincoln aircraft carrier was sent to the Middle East region. "We have information that you don't want to know about," he said.

Asked about the possibility of a military confrontation with Iran, Trump said: "I guess you could say that always, right? I don't want to say no, but hopefully, that won't happen. We have one of the most powerful ships in the world that are loaded up and we don't want to do anything."

President Donald Trump told reporters at White House on Thursday that he was willing to hold talks with the Iranian leaders, should they reach out to him.

"What I would like to see with Iran, I would like to see them call me," Trump said.

The US president claimed that John Kerry, former secretary of state, had told Iran "not to call". "But they should call … If they do, we are open to talk to them."

"We just don’t want them to have nuclear weapons — not too much to ask. And we would help put them back to great shape. "We can make a deal, a fair deal," he also said.

US president Trump said that former Secretary of State John Kerry "should be prosecuted" for speaking privately with Iranian officials and claimed, discouraging them from negotiating with his administration.

"He's talking to Iran and has been, has many meetings and many phone calls and he's telling them what to do. And that is a total violation of the Logan Act," Trump said.

ILKHA