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WASHINGTON — Iran's leaders are "sowing the seeds of their own destruction" with a brutal crackdown on protesters, US Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday.

In an interview with MSNBC television, he said the United States should continue to extend a hand to Iran "as we move toward serious sanctions against the Iranian government."

"But, look, when they acted as they did, when the first protests broke out and people were brutalized, they lost their moral credibility and their own country and around the region. And I think they're sowing the seeds for their own destruction," Biden said.

Biden defended the administration's cautious approach to Iran at a time when some Republicans have urged a return to a policy of promoting regime change in Tehran.

"We are moving with the world, including Russia and others, to put sanctions on them," he said. "I think we've moved in the right direction... We're going to end up much better off than we would have had we tried to go in there and physically tried to change the regime."