The Iran war is “very close” to ending, according to President Donald Trump, with peace negotiations expected to continue later this week.
"I think it’s close to over, yeah. I view it as very close to being over," Trump told Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo in an interview the network plans to release in full Wednesday morning.
"If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country. And we’re not finished," he added. "We’ll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly."
The comments were similar to those Trump made in a prime-time address on April 1, in which the president claimed the U.S.’s “core strategic objectives are nearing completion.”
Further negotiations are expected this week, after a marathon weekend session of talks in Pakistan did not yield a concrete end to the war, which began in late February. The clock is ticking for both sides to reach a deal, with the current two-week ceasefire expiring on April 21.
Islamabad has proposed a second round of talks, and Trump has suggested negotiations are imminent.
"You should stay there [Islamabad], really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we're more inclined to go there," Trump told The New York Post on Tuesday.
The previous negotiations, led on the U.S. side by Vice President JD Vance, were deadlocked over Washington’s demand that Tehran commit to not developing a nuclear weapon. Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is for civilian uses.
“The simple question is, do we see a fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon, not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term,” Vance said in a press conference after the talks. “We haven’t seen that yet.”
Iran also reportedly refused to agree to allow the U.S. to retrieve its highly enriched uranium, a U.S. official told The Washington Post.
Complicating matters further, U.S. forces began blockading traffic in and out of Iranian ports on Monday, including in the globally vital oil transit route through the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. has hailed the move as a key strategic win, though the IMF has warned that extending the war could cause a recession and an energy crisis.
“A blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented as U.S. forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East,” Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, said in a statement on Tuesday. “An estimated 90 percent of Iran’s economy is fueled by international trade by sea. In less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented, U.S. forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea.”
During the first 24 hours of the blockade, no ships made it past the U.S. line and six merchant vessels obeyed orders to turn around and re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman, according to Central Command.
Iran has called the blockade a form of “piracy” and said military vessels approaching the Strait of Hormuz would be considered in violation of the ceasefire.
Multiple ships managed to leave Iranian ports around the time the blockade began, according to outside maritime analytic firms.
More than 10,000 U.S. service members and more than a dozen U.S. warships are supporting the blockade.
In addition to causing economic disruptions, the conflict could pose political risks for Trump.
The campaign remains deeply unpopular with U.S. voters, and the president’s approval rating has circled record lows as the conflict has persisted.
Democrats have pushed to impeach the president or remove him via the 25th Amendment, with lawmakers accusing the president’s mental fitness of being in decline.
