US President Donald Trump says Middle East war “close to over” as Iran wants to “make a deal very badly”

The US/Israeli war with Iran is “close to over”, according to US President Donald Trump. In an interview with Fox Business Network, which is set to be aired today (Wednesday), Trump said he viewed the conflict as nearing completion and said Iran was keen to make a deal.

He said: “If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country. And we’re not finished. We’ll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly.”

The President has repeatedly declared victory in the conflict, despite the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz causing shock in energy prices - including sending fuel prices spiralling. This week, he told the New York Post a second round of talks could happen “over the next two days” and that negotiations could again be held in the capital of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, in response to the closure of the strait - through which around 20% of the world's oil supply travels - the US military claimed on Tuesday it had successfully begun to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports. In response, Tehran threatened to strike targets across the region.

The US military said it has achieved “maritime superiority” in the Middle East and that the blockade on Iranian ports had been “fully implemented” within 36 hours of its launch, according to a social media post by the US Central Command. The statement quoted Central Command head Admiral Brad Cooper as saying the US had halted all sea trade going in and out of Iran.

Vice president JD Vance told an event in Georgia that Mr Trump “doesn’t want to make, like, a small deal. He wants to make the grand bargain”. “That’s the trade that he’s offering,” he said. “If you guys commit to not having a nuclear weapon, we are going to make Iran thrive.”

Pakistan finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told The Associated Press on Tuesday “our leadership is not giving up” on its efforts to help the US and Iran negotiate. “We would very much like to see if we can continue to pursue the dialogue,” he added, speaking on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. “We’ll keep at it, and our leadership is at it.”

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said it is “highly probable” that talks will restart. He cited a meeting he had with Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, Ishaq Dar.

In Washington, the first direct talks in decades between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the US concluded on a productive note, according to the US state department. Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter said the two countries were “on the same side of the equation” in “liberating Lebanon” from the militant Hezbollah group.

Lebanese ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad called the meeting “constructive” but urged an end to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

An Israeli drone strike in Gaza killed six more Palestinians, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed on Tuesday to 11, according to health officials at Shifa hospital. The Israeli military said it had struck Hamas militants in the area.