Iran war 'close to over,' says Trump
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Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump has said that the war with Iran is “close to over,” asserting that if he pulled up stakes right now, it would take Tehran 20 years to rebuild the country.
The president's comments come hours after the US Central Command said it has successfully blocked all traffic to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas in the first 24 hours of Trump's blockade, saying the US was supporting freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
“I think it’s close to over, yeah. I view it as very close to being over,” Trump told Fox News in an interview that will be telecast later Wednesday.
The interview for the programme “Mornings with Maria” was recorded on Tuesday.
“I think it’s — I had to divert because if I didn’t do that, right now you’d have Iran with a nuclear weapon. And if they had a nuclear weapon, you’d be calling everyone over there ‘sir,’ and you don’t want to do that,” Trump said.
The US and Iran failed to reach an agreement following historic marathon talks in Islamabad over the weekend to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict that started on February 28.
A US media report said on Tuesday that Trump said that a second round of talks with Iran could be held in Islamabad “over the next two days.”
“You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we're more inclined to go there,” Trump told The New York Post.
Trump attributed the possibility of a second round of talks to the “great job” done by Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.
“It's more likely, you know why? Because the field marshal is doing a great job,” the US President said.
He did not say whether Vice President J D Vance would continue to lead the negotiating team, which included White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“I’ve been saying they can’t have nuclear weapons. So I don’t like the 20 years,” Trump said when asked about suggestions that a moratorium might encourage Iran to make an agreement.
“I don’t want them (Iran) to feel like they have a win,” the US President said.
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Rupee gains 20 paise to 93.15 against US dollar in early trade
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Mumbai (PTI): The rupee recovered 20 paise to 93.15 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, backed by lower levels of crude oil prices and a weak American currency amid hopes of resuming US-Iran peace talks.
Investor sentiment turned positive after US President Donald Trump said that a second round of talks with Iran could be held "over the next two days".
The latest remarks, which came days after the two sides failed to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict in West Asia, led to a sharp decline in crude oil prices, boosting the risk appetite for market participants, forex analysts said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 93.19 against the US dollar and gained further, trading at 93.15 against the greenback in early deals, up 20 paise from its previous closing level.
On Monday, the rupee weakened by 52 paise to settle at 93.35 against the US dollar. The forex market was closed on Tuesday on account of Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was marginally higher by 0.04 per cent at 97.95.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.57 per cent up at USD 95.33 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the stock markets witnessed a steep surge in the morning trade. The 30-share Sensex jumped 1162.04 points or 1.51 per cent to 78,009.61, while the Nifty climbed 348.65 points or 1.46 per cent to 24,191.30.
Foreign Institutional Investors were net sellers on Monday and offloaded equities worth Rs 1,983.18 crore, according to exchange data.
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