I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn't - The clock is ticking, says Trump
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US President Donald Trump said he could make a deal with Iran "right now," but he wants it to be "everlasting," not temporary.
"We have total control of the Strait... They would have opened it up three days ago. They came to us and they said, 'we will agree to open the Strait.'
"And all my people are happy. Everybody was happy — except me," he told Fox.
"I said...if we open the Strait, that means they're going to make $500 million a day. I don't want them to make $500 million a day until they settle this thing."
Trump insists Iran should not have a nuclear weapon and makes the handover of Iran's enriched uranium as a key precondition for a peace deal.
Iranian officials, including Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghei, have strongly stated that Iran will not transfer its enriched uranium to any foreign country, particularly the United States, calling such proposals a "non-starter".
President Donald Trump says a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has been extended by three weeks after hosting a meeting of the two countries’ representatives at the White House.
Israel and Lebanon held ambassador-level talks and President Trump greeted both representatives upon their arrival at the White House.
The Pentagon said US forces boarded M/T Majestic X, a crude tanker suspected of carrying Iranian oil, while sailing in the Indian Ocean. The Trump administration warned that ships providing material support to Iran in international waters would be targeted as part of "global maritime enforcement".
Britain and France Thursday voiced hope that military plans to secure the Strait of Hormuz were coming together and would succeed in restoring trade flows through the vital passage.
At a two-day meeting in London, military planners discussed the practicalities of a multinational mission led by the UK and France to protect navigation in the key waterway following a sustainable ceasefire, top defence officials said.
The aim is to form a "defensive, multinational mission that will strengthen the confidence of commercial shipping, and, if necessary, clear mines and protect vessels when the hostilities end", British defence minister John Healey said.
Healey and French counterpart Catherine Vautrin said in a joint statement they were "confident that real progress can be made".
"International trade, energy, and economic stability for all our nations depend on freedom of navigation" in the strait, Healey told those attending.
He called for "practical military plans", saying "millions of people" were relying on a successful outcome from the meeting.
The USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier has arrived in the Middle East, the US military said Thursday, bringing the number of the massive American warships operating in the region to three.
The Bush was sailing "in the Indian Ocean in the US Central Command area of responsibility, April 23," the military command responsible for the Middle East said in a post on X that included an image of the carrier with its deck packed with warplanes.
A second carrier - the USS Gerald R. Ford - was operating in the Red Sea on Thursday, while a third - the USS Abraham Lincoln - is also in the region, according to social media posts by CENTCOM.
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States is under no pressure to end the war with Iran, but "the clock is ticking" for Tehran, as disruption from the conflict batters the world economy.
"I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn't - The clock is ticking!" Trump said on social media, adding that Iran's military was destroyed and "their leaders are no longer with us, the Blockade is airtight and strong and, from there, it only gets worse."
An Israeli security source told AFP on Thursday that the country was not carrying out airstrikes in Iran, following reports in Iranian state media of blasts over the capital Tehran.
"Israel is not attacking in Iran," the source said on condition of anonymity.
Earlier on Thursday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel was "prepared to resume the war against Iran", adding that his country was awaiting a green light from the United States to return Iran to "the Stone Age".
Kuwait has reopened its airspace starting this evening after nearly two-month closure, with the gradual resumption of flights at Kuwait International Airport.
This step marks the start of a phased resumption of flight operations after a temporary precautionary suspension imposed since February 28 amid regional developments.
Sheikh Hamoud Mubarak Al Sabah, head of the General Civil Aviation Authority, said the move was coordinated with relevant domestic and international authorities to ensure operations resume in line with the highest safety and security standards.
US President Donald Trump will meet Israeli and Lebanese envoys when they hold a second round of peace talks Thursday, a US official said.
"The ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon will now take place at the White House," the official said on customary condition of anonymity. "President Trump will greet both representatives upon their arrival."
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Thursday strongly dismissed claims of internal divisions within the country, responding to remarks attributed to US President Donald Trump.
In a post shared on X, Ghalibaf asserted that there is no divide between political factions in Iran, emphasising national unity and allegiance to the country's leadership.
"In Iran, there are no radicals or moderates; we are all 'Iranian' and 'revolutionary,'" he stated in a post on X, adding that the nation stands united in the face of external pressures.
