Trump says peace deal with Iran in final stages
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said negotiations over a peace deal to end the Middle East war were in their final stages, after Iran and Israel halted attacks that threatened to reignite the months-long conflict.
Iran fired missiles at Israel on Sunday in response to strikes against Lebanon's Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut, before Israel struck back despite Trump's efforts to dissuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from doing so.
The Israeli leader said of Iran that the "fire on that front is contained" hours after Tehran said it had stopped its military action, while both sides warned they could resume hostilities despite diplomatic efforts gathering pace.
Iran and Israel "were going back and forth and now they both agreed through me to stop and we're in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal," the U.S. leader told reporters on his return from an NBA Finals game.
When asked whether a deal would be a matter of days or weeks, he said it would take "two or three days."
The flare-up came after weeks of negotiations seeking to bring about a definitive end to the regional war sparked by U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, with Tehran insisting a halt to the conflict must include a truce in Lebanon.
Trump, who has reportedly grown increasingly exasperated with Netanyahu, had earlier urged both sides to stop "shooting" and said that "final negotiations" towards peace would proceed "subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way".
U.S. Vice President JD Vance told Fox News on Monday that while the United States and Israel shared interests, their positions did not always align.
"The Israelis and the United States, we have a lot of shared interests," Vance said. "But we also have some situations where our interests diverge."
In the recent escalation of attacks, Iran fired nearly 30 missiles at Israel, according to the Israeli military, while Israel struck military sites in the Islamic republic.
Iranian state media reported on Tuesday that two members of the "Army Air Defense Force" were killed in Israeli strikes a day earlier. No casualties were reported in Israel following the exchange.
And despite Iranian demands, Israel has kept up its attacks on Lebanon, where it is fighting the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.
On another front of the war, Israel's military said early Tuesday it had intercepted an aerial target from Yemen, but there were no injuries.
- Oil eases -
Fears had grown that the recent flare-up would put at risk a fragile Middle East truce -- in place since April 8 -- and ruin efforts for talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global oil usually passes.
The conflict has severely disrupted shipping through the Hormuz strait, while Washington has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.
Trump said Tuesday that two pilots were uninjured after reports that a U.S. military helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz.
It was not immediately clear whether the Apache helicopter was shot down, experienced mechanical failure or encountered some other problem, the New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the incident.
In better news for Iranians, local media reported early Tuesday that Tehran's international airport -- closed during the missile exchanges -- had reopened, allowing flights carrying hajj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia to land.
Source: Agence France Presse
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