DUBAI — Iran is not seeking war, the leader of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards said Sunday.

"The difference between us and them is that they are afraid of war and don't have the will for it," Major General Hossein Salami said, as quoted by local news agency Fars.

On Saturday the Revolutionary Guard general, known for his inflammatory rhetoric, mocked the U.S. political system and made a jab related to the 9/11 attacks.

"The U.S. political system is full of cracks," Salami said. "Though impressive-looking, it has osteoporosis. In fact, America's story is like the World Trade Center towers that collapse with a sudden blow."

The Donald Trump administration labeled Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization in April, making it the first military institution of a foreign government to receive that designation.

The comments come amid escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington and just days after drone attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure carried out by Iranian-supported Houthi rebels from Yemen. The U.S. later withdrew much of its diplomatic staff from Iraq, citing intelligence reports alleging threats and evidence of heightened activity from Iranian-backed proxies in the country.

But Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has been meeting with foreign leaders and dismissing the potential for war. "There will be no war because neither do we want a war, nor has anyone the idea or illusion it can confront Iran in the region," Zarif told local media Sunday.