President Donald Trump on Monday indicated that the U.S. had attempted to send guns to the Iranian people to help them fight the Islamic Republic's armed forces, but that the intermediary that was supposed to distribute the weapons merely kept them instead.

"We sent some guns," he said. "They were supposed to go to the people so they could fight back against these thugs. You know what happened? The people that we sent them to kept them."

"So, I am very upset with a certain group of people and they're gonna pay a big price for that," he added.

Trump previously told Fox News's Trey Yingst that he believed Kurdish groups had kept the guns intended for the Iranian people. Kurdish militia forces had been the subject of speculation over a possible role in a ground operation against Iran.

Reports in March suggested that forces based in Iraqi Kurdistan would conduct a ground invasion of Iran, focused around the Kurdish majority areas on the border with Iraq. That attack did not materialize.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.