"I think it's almost over, yes," Trump answers a straightforward question in an interview with Fox News.
I see it as very close to being over.
There, and in several other interviews, Trump justifies the war he has started and emphasizes that he wants it to be over as soon as possible.
If he hadn't intervened, Iran would have had a nuclear weapon by now, the president claims.
In an interview with British Sky News, Trump is asked if the war could be over before King Charles visits the United States at the end of April.
It's possible. Very possible. They (Iran) have taken quite a beating.
Talked about for weeks
At the outbreak of war in late February, and in an address to the nation on April 1, Trump said the fighting could end within weeks. The US has given the Iranian regime deadlines to agree to high-profile demands - most recently threatening to “destroy an entire civilization” - but they have been repeatedly postponed.
Last week, delegations from the United States and Iran were in Pakistan to participate in peace talks. The head of the US delegation, Vice President JD Vance, called off the talks after less than a day.
The talks could resume in the "next two days," probably in Pakistan, Trump told The New York Post. JD Vance has explained the delay by saying the president is seeking a large and comprehensive deal, CNN reports.
In the coming days and weeks, thousands more US troops will join the approximately 50,000 already deployed in the region, sources told The Washington Post.
Changing target image
The American objective has been formulated in different ways, with different emphases, during the course of the war. In recent weeks, the message from the Trump administration has been that Iran should not be allowed to enrich uranium under any circumstances, citing concerns that the country would then go ahead and develop nuclear weapons.
The negotiations are said to have stalled on the issue of nuclear energy. According to American media reports, the United States has been prepared to compromise to the extent that Iran will be banned from enriching uranium for the next 20 years, while Iran insists on a five-year period.
US ally Israel has continued its war against Iran-allied Hezbollah in Lebanon, which other parties had understood to be covered by the ceasefire. And in the Strait of Hormuz, the US says it has established a naval blockade against Iran in response to the Iranian blockade that has cut off much of the global oil flow.
Thousands of people have been killed in the larger Middle East war that the US and Israel launched against Iran on February 28.
At least 3,000 people are known to have been killed in Iran. At least 2,100 have been killed in Lebanon and around 20 in Israel.
Dozens of people have been killed in Iran's various attacks on targets in other countries around the Persian Gulf.
13 American soldiers have been killed.
