Trump says Iran war could end soon as Tehran ramps up major diplomatic offensive for ceasefire

US President Donald Trump has indicated that the ongoing conflict with Iran could be nearing a resolution stating that Tehran is in a severely weakened position due to sustained American military and economic pressureSpeaking to Fox News President Trump said I think the big advantage is that weve taken out their navy in its entirety They have no air force left They have no navy leftTheyre in bad shape I mean theyre really in bad shape And of course weve done the blockade and the blockades been unbelievably effective and that means they cant get any more moneyHe highlighted the damage inflicted on Iranian capabilities and internal divisions within its leadershipTheir leaders are gone which is a good thing They were far more radicalised than the people that were dealing with now The people were dealing with now some of them are very reasonable people and others are not And theyre not getting along You know theres a lot of infighting as you know But you know they dont have antiaircraft equipment they dont have radar equipment Its all been blown up Their factories their missilemaking factories have been damaged about 75 per cent which isnt 100 per cent so theres danger there Trump addedThe US President expressed hope for a pragmatic Iranian response but maintained a firm stanceI hope theyre going to be smart and if theyre not smart were going to win anyway He reiterated that Iran would not be permitted to develop nuclear weapons stating They cannot have a nuclear weapon Otherwise theres no reason to meet Trump also clarified that Washington would not send delegations abroad for talks urging Iran to initiate contact directly If they wanna talk they can come to us or they can call us We are not sending people to travel 18 hours to meet he saidWest Asia conflict Diplomatic push gains momentumIn parallel with these developments Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has been engaged in intense shuttle diplomacy On Monday he arrived in St Petersburg Russia for highlevel talks with President Vladimir Putin The visit follows discussions in Oman and Pakistan as Tehran seeks broader international backing for deescalationIranian state media IRNA reported that Araghchis flight carried the callsign Minab 168 in memory of children killed in a USIsraeli strike on an elementary school in Minab on February 28 Russias Foreign Ministry and Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the meeting to discuss the regional situation ceasefire and conflict developmentsTehrans Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali noted strong bilateral ties stating that Iran and Russia as neighbours see eyetoeye on a number of regional and international issues with regular highlevel communication He highlighted their joint opposition at the UN Security Council to a USinitiated resolution on the Strait of Hormuz which he called unbalanced and irrationalIn Muscat Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi held extensive talks with Araghchi on the Strait of Hormuz crisis In a post on X the Omani minister emphasised Good discussion on the Strait of Hormuz with Irans Foreign Minister Dr Araghchi As littoral states we recognize our shared responsibility to the international community and the urgent humanitarian need to free the seafarers held for far too longIrans new proposal via PakistanAmid these efforts Tehran has submitted a fresh twostage plan to Washington through Pakistani intermediaries according to US news outlet Axios The proposal prioritises reopening the Strait of Hormuz ending the war or extending a ceasefire and lifting the US naval blockade with nuclear issues to be addressed only in a later phaseThis comes after the White House cancelled a planned visit by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad seen as dissatisfaction with an earlier Iranian offer Irans Foreign Minister reportedly informed mediators that there is no consensus within the Iranian leadership on US demands for a tenyear halt to uranium enrichment and relocation of its nuclear stockpileFresh violence in LebanonMeanwhile in Lebanon Israeli strikes on Sunday killed 14 people in the south mdash the deadliest day since the IsraelHezbollah ceasefire took effect over a week agoLebanons health ministry reported that the casualties included two women and two children with 37 others wounded Since the truce began on 17 April at least 36 people have been killed in Israeli strikes according to an AFP tallyThe Israeli military announced that one of its soldiers was killed in combat in south Lebanon Both sides have accused each other of violating the fragile truce which was extended for three weeks on Thursday Israeli troops continue operations within a designated yellow line buffer zone along the borderThe coming days will be critical as diplomatic channels remain active while military pressures and local conflicts persist across the regionWith AFP inputs