War with Iran is 'close to over', Trump claims

US President Donald Trump 

U.S. President Donald Trump has said the war he launched with Israel on Iran is close to over, as the army chief of mediator Pakistan arrived in Tehran to try to prevent a renewal of the conflict.

The diplomatic push came as US and ‌Iranian officials weighed a return to Pakistan for further talks after negotiations there ended on Sunday without a breakthrough.

Israel expects a two-week ceasefire agreed last week with the Iranians to be extended, a source told Reuters.

Pakistan's military confirmed Field Marshal Asim Munir had arrived in Tehran. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that Munir, who had mediated the last round of talks, was heading to Iran "to narrow gaps" between the two sides.

"I think you're going to be watching an amazing two days ahead," ​Trump told ABC News adding he did not think it would be necessary to extend the ceasefire.

"I think it’s close to ​over, yeah. I mean I view it as very close to over," Trump said in an interview on Fox Business Network conducted Tuesday and broadcast Wednesday. "We’ll see ⁠what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly."

Officials from Pakistan, Iran and Gulf states also said both sides could return to Islamabad in coming days.

The talks last weekend broke down without ​an agreement to end the war, which Trump began alongside Israel on February 28, triggering Iranian attacks on Iran's Gulf neighbours and reigniting a conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Trump's optimism lifted global stocks towards ​record highs. Oil prices were slightly up at around $95 per barrel after the US said its blockade of Iranian ports had halted seaborne trade in and out of Iran.

During the first 48 hours of the US blockade on ships entering and exiting Iranian ​ports, no vessels have made it past US forces, the US military said. Additionally, nine vessels have complied with direction from US forces to turn around and return toward an Iranian port or coastal area.

However, Iran's ​Fars News agency said an Iranian supertanker subject to US sanctions crossed the strait towards Iran's Imam Khomeini port despite the blockade. Fars did not identify the tanker or give further details of its voyage.

Iran's joint military command warned ‌it would halt ⁠trade flows in the Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea - which connects to the Suez Canal - if the US blockade continued.

Trump has also threatened to escalate if the war resumes. He told Fox Business Network: "We could take out every one of their bridges in one hour. We could take out every one of their power plants, electric power plants, in one hour. We don't want to do that...so we'll see what happens."

He told the New York Post on Tuesday that his negotiators were likely to return to Pakistan.

Iran's nuclear ambitions were a key sticking point at last weekend's talks. The US proposed a ​20-year suspension of all nuclear activity by Iran - an ​apparent concession from longstanding demands for a permanent ⁠ban - while Tehran suggested a halt of three to five years, according to people familiar with the proposals.

Washington has also pressed for any enriched nuclear material to be removed from Iran, while Tehran has demanded that international sanctions against it be lifted.

One source involved in the talks said back-channel discussions had made progress in ​narrowing gaps, bringing the two sides closer to a deal that could be presented at a new round of talks.

Complicating peace efforts, Israel has continued to ​attack Lebanon as it targets ⁠Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israel and the US say that campaign is not covered by the ceasefire, while Iran insists it is.

Israel's security cabinet will convene late on Wednesday to discuss a possible Lebanon ceasefire, a senior Israeli official told Reuters, after Israeli and Lebanese officials held rare talks in Washington a day earlier.

The war has led Iran to effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz - a vital artery for global crude and gas shipments - to ⁠ships other than ​its own, sharply reducing exports from the Gulf, particularly to Asia and Europe, and leaving energy importers scrambling for alternative supplies.

The oil ​market also faces further tightening, as the US does not plan to renew a 30-day waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil at sea that expires this week, according to US officials.

An estimated 5,000 people have been killed in the fighting, including about 3,000 in Iran and 2,000 ​in Lebanon. The governor of Tehran province said many of those killed were students, women, teachers and university professors.