Megyn Kelly compared President Donald Trump to fictional deluded middle child Jan Brady while mocking his latest excuse for bombing Iran. 

Trump denied that he was persuaded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to start the war with Iran in a Truth Social post Monday.

He said Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel played a factor, but that the decision to invade Iran stemmed from his 'lifelong opinion that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.'

But Kelly, a former MAGA ally who has soured on Trump over Iran, seemingly dismissed the president's statement as unbelievable. 

She shared his post on X accompanied by a meme of sitcom character Marcia Brady saying 'Sure, Jan.'

The popular meme is usually used to suggest that someone is telling a lie. It references a scene in the 1996 film A Very Brady Sequel where Jan Brady, portrayed by Jennifer Elise Cox, lies about dating a classmate called George Glass.

Her more popular and more beautiful older sister Marcia (Christine Taylor) sees through the falsehood, claiming there's no one by that name at their school.

But Jan doubles down on her story and brags about how George thinks she's 'super cool.' Marcia rolls her eyes, before replying: 'Sure, Jan.'

Kelly's apparent criticism of Trump comes as the president said he was sending negotiators to Pakistan for talks on ending the war with Iran.

The war began on February 28 when the US and Israel launched joint-strikes on Iran, killing the country's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

With the fragile ceasefire set to expire on Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner have left the US for Islamabad to prepare for a second round of peace talks.

'They're heading over now,' Trump said Monday morning.

'They'll be there tonight, [Islamabad] time.'

But the president also repeated threats to attack Iran's infrastructure if it did not make a deal. 

The Islamic Republic continues to deflect about whether it will participate in the talks - with the Iranian foreign ministry claiming it has 'no plans for the next round of negotiation'.

Iran further accused America of breaching the temporary truce, alleging an ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports and its recent seizure of a ship 'clear violations of the ceasefire'.

'The US is carrying out behaviors that do not in any way indicate seriousness in pursuing a diplomatic process,' Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei added.

Trump has similarly accused Tehran of violating the truce by firing on ships in the crucial Strait of Hormuz trade route, which Iran has all but shut. 

In an interview with the New York Post, he also dismissed Tehran's claims that it will not participate in the latest round of peace negotiations in Pakistan.

'We're supposed to have the talks,' Trump said, brushing aside doubts about whether diplomacy would fall apart.

'So I would assume at this point nobody's playing games,' he added.

Trump has also said he is willing to meet with senior Iranian leaders if a breakthrough is reached. 

The president has been under pressure to find an off-ramp since Tehran moved to choke off the Strait of Hormuz.

But the naval blockade to cut off Iran's oil revenues and the seizure of the cargo ship allegedly trying to evade it have drawn renewed threats from Tehran instead of pressuring them back to the negotiating table.

Iranian state media cited a spokesperson for Tehran's central command center as warning that the military 'will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy'. 

Another outlet reported Tehran had sent drones in the direction of US military ships.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards for their part warned that any attempt to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without permission 'will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted'.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a phone call on Monday that 'normal traffic' through the vital conduit for oil and gas shipments 'should be maintained', state media said.