Trump says war 'close to over', hints at fresh talks

The United States is reportedly sending thousands of additional troops into the Middle East in the coming days to pressure Iran into a deal, despite US President Donald Trump claiming the war with Tehran is "close to over".

"I think it's close to over … I view it as very close to being over," Trump told Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday and said he thinks Iran wants to "make a deal very badly". He hinted at a possible second round of talks between the two countries in Pakistan in the coming days.

The Washington Post reported the new military deployment, but it did not say how many troops would be sent and it is yet to be confirmed publicly by the US government.

While Iran has not confirmed further talks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan released a statement on Wednesday saying that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would be visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkiye from April 15 to 18.

The statement said the visits "will be in the bilateral context" to discuss ongoing bilateral cooperation, regional peace, and security.

Sharif's visit to Turkiye includes his participation in the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum, where he is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other key leaders.

At a UN briefing Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the indication they have was that it was highly probable the US-Iran talks would restart, following his phone call with the Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan Mohammad Ishaq Dar.

Guterres expressed his "enormous admiration" for Pakistan and the initiative it has assumed to bring peace to the Middle East.

Currently, the US has imposed a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

In a post on X on Wednesday, the US Central Command said the US Navy's guided-missile destroyers are among the assets executing a blockade mission impacting Iranian ports, and that the blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or leaving the coastal areas in Iran.

In a statement, US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper said a blockade of Iranian ports has been "fully implemented as US forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East".

But on Tuesday, at least two vessels transited through the strait en route to Iranian ports after altering their Automatic Identification System, or AIS, destination data, following a US blockade on ships entering and leaving Iran, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency, citing the maritime intelligence provider Lloyd's List.

The two Iran-flagged container ships that previously indicated sailing to the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas changed their AIS messages to the more general designation of "PG Ports", meaning "Persian Gulf Ports". They were able to continue their journey toward Bandar Abbas on Tuesday.

'Reckless misstep'

Reza Amiri Moghadam, Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, called the US naval blockade "a reckless misstep meant possibly for a dignified exit and face-saving".

"It's meant to gain credibility by creating this mentality that things are imposed by force and thereby justifying deployment of ammunition, rhetoric, loss of lives, and costs on US taxpayers," said Moghadam.

Meanwhile, as parties hammer out the potential date and venue for the next US-Iran talks, several countries issued a joint statement on Lebanon.

Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Jordan, Sierra Leone, and Switzerland said they remained "deeply concerned" over the humanitarian situation and displacement crisis in the country.

Israel and Lebanon are currently holding direct talks at the ambassadorial level at the US State Department in Washington.