US President Donald Trump told ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl that he is not considering extending the truce with Iran because he does not believe there will be a need for it, UNN reports.
Details
"I think you're going to watch an incredible two days ahead," Trump told ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, adding that he did not believe it was necessary to extend the two-week ceasefire, which ends on April 21.
"I really do think so," he added.
The journalist asked if the war would end with a deal, or "will you just say: look, we've destroyed their capabilities, and that's it?"
"After all, things can end in different ways, but I think a deal is better, because then they can recover. They really have a different regime now. Whatever happens, we have destroyed the radicals. They are no longer with us," Trump said.
And, according to the journalist, he made this "extraordinary statement": "If I weren't president, the world would be torn to pieces."
Addition
As Reuters notes, Trump said that talks between American and Iranian officials could resume in Pakistan within the next two days, and US Vice President J.D. Vance, who led the weekend talks that ended without a breakthrough, said he was confident in the current state of affairs.
On Tuesday, in an interview with the New York Post, Trump said his negotiators would likely return, largely thanks to the "excellent work" of Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who moderated the talks.
Later on Tuesday, US Vice President J.D. Vance said Trump wants to strike a "big deal" with Iran, but there is a lot of distrust between the two countries.
Officials from Pakistan, Iran, and Gulf countries also said that negotiating teams from the US and Iran could return to Pakistan later this week, although one senior Iranian source said a date had not yet been set.
Meanwhile, US Admiral Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, said that US forces had completely halted trade to and from Iran by sea, which he said accounts for 90% of Iran's economy.
"In less than 36 hours since the blockade was imposed, US forces have completely halted economic trade entering and leaving Iran by sea," Cooper said in a post on X.
Earlier, the US military said it had intercepted eight Iranian-linked oil tankers since the blockade began on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Iran's nuclear ambitions were a key stumbling block in the weekend talks. The US proposed a 20-year suspension of all Iranian nuclear activities, while Tehran offered to halt them for three to five years, according to people familiar with the proposals.
Speaking in Seoul, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi said the duration of any moratorium on Iran's uranium enrichment was a political decision, and it was possible that Tehran would agree to a compromise as a confidence-building measure.
The US also insisted on the removal of any enriched nuclear material from Iran, while Tehran demanded the lifting of international sanctions against it.
One source involved in the talks in Pakistan said that behind-the-scenes negotiations since the weekend had led to progress in bridging this gap, bringing both sides closer to a deal that could be proposed in a new round of talks.
However, significantly complicating peace prospects, Israel continues to attack Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group. Israel and the US claim that this campaign is not covered by the ceasefire agreement, while Iran insists that it is.