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TRANSCRIPT
It's a song the US President has been singing for a few days now.
In an interview with Maria Bartiromo from Fox News, Donald Trump has said he believes its war with Iran would be over soon.
"And you know what? I'm very happy. And it's [[oil price]] going to come dropping down very big once this is over - and I think it's can be over soon. If they're smart, it will end soon."
In a separate interview with the US ABC News network, he's told the world to watch out for what he calls an "amazing two days".
But it all hinges on the success of new ceasefire talks in Pakistan
Officials from Pakistan, Iran and several Gulf states say negotiating teams from the US and Iran could return to Islamabad this week for talks, with less than seven days to go before the two-week ceasefire ends on April the 22nd.
Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, has already met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Tehran in a bid to prevent renewed conflict, with nuclear energy a key sticking point in the negotiations.
The US had proposed a 20-year suspension of all nuclear activity by Iran, while Tehran had suggested a halt of three to five years.
The US President suggesting in his Fox News interview that wiping out Iran's entire nuclear capability was the aim.
" This whole thing is really about no nuclear. They cannot have a nuclear weapon."
Iranian atomic energy chief, Mohammad Eslami, says success in their negotiations might be possible.
But he says the US has not been acting in good faith, and it's far from certain if a second round of talks will take place.
FARSI THEN ENGLISH VO: "If Iran’s rights and interests, which are the legal rights of a nation, are recognised and its dignity respected, naturally the negotiation can be fruitful. But if it continues, as it usually does, relying on deception and, in fact, on a lack of commitment and failure to adhere to agreements and set terms, then it naturally cannot succeed."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has continued to talk up the negotiations.
She says the signs for a ceasefire agreement are promising.
"We feel good about the prospects of a deal. The president mentioned that in his interview yesterday, and it's obviously in the best interest of Iran to meet the president's demands. I think he's made his red lines in these negotiations very clear to the other side. And so we are continuing to see how these conversations go.''
On the diplomatic front, the US has been sending mixed signals on whether or not it will extend the ceasefire as diplomatic efforts continue behind the scenes to set up the new talks.
Trump has told the US ABC News outlet he won't do that - while Karoline Leavitt has been forced to deny reports that in fact the U-S formally requested an extension.
"That is not true at this moment. We remain very much engaged in these negotiations, in these talks."
Meanwhile, the United States Treasury is still talking tough.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has declared companies and countries have been put on notice that the US is willing to impose secondary sanctions if they hold Iranian money or buy oil from Tehran.
In Iran, the country's joint military command has warned it would act to disrupt trade flows in the Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea which connects to the Suez Canal - if the US blockade keeps going.
That blockade has begun despite objections from the International Maritime Organisation who say about 20,000 seafarers are trapped in the region.
Arsenio Dominguez is the group's Secretary-General.
"There's no legal mechanism that allows a country, any country to either block or introduce a payment or a toll system on an international Strait that deals with international navigation. This is very well defined both in the (UN) Law of the Sea Convention as well as the customary maritime law."
Adding to these pressures are domestic concerns in the United States itself, months before the crucial mid-term elections.
Opinion polls show the war is broadly unpopular, a Reuters poll published on March the 31st, finding that 60 percent of Americans are against U.S. military strikes on Iran.
Cost of living is also one of the key issues for many voters, and accordingly, Mr Bessent, has declared he's confident that gasoline prices - sent skywards by the war - will go down soon.
"I think, again, I'm optimistic that sometime between June 20th and September 20th that we can have $3 gas again."
Democratic Party members in the U-S Senate maintain the President is exceeding his authority with what he has done in the Middle East.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer [[shoo-ma]] argues Republican Party members are allowing the president to do whatever he wants - without any accountability.
"So if Republicans won't act, Senate Democrats will force the issue. Starting this week, we will bring a War Powers resolution to the floor. And if Republicans block it, we will vote again and again and again."
But perhaps one of the biggest issues that could imperil the ceasefire talks is Israel's parallel campaign against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
It's continued to launch attacks in an intensive air and ground campaign, saying it's not covered by the Iran ceasefire.
Lebanon's Health ministry is reporting just under 2200 people [[2,167]] have been killed in Israeli strikes so far, including 91 medical workers.
Lebanon has reacted furiously to these incidents saying paramedics have become direct targets - something reporter Isabel DeBre from the Associated Press can testify to.
She says three different teams of paramedics were hit just a day ago.
"All operating in the southern Lebanese town of Mayfadoun. And what we heard from the Lebanese Health Ministry was that first there was a paramedic team that, as is normal, responded to an emergency call. They were going to the site of an Israeli airstrike where there were wounded people they needed to rescue. And as they were arriving to Mayfadoun, they were hit by an Israeli drone strike, killing two paramedics at that site and wounding others. And then the paramedics sent yet another team in order to rescue that first team. And as they were arriving to the town, another Israeli strike hit that team and wounded three of those paramedics. So then, the civil defence decided to send yet a third team in order rescue the first and the second teams. They were also hit when arriving to the town, another two paramedics were killed in that third strike and more were wounded."
The United Nations peacekeeping force has also continued to report incidents of harassment.
Farhan Haq is a U-N spokesperson.
"Yesterday afternoon, a routine convoy transporting military and civilian peacekeepers, along with essential contractors from Beirut to UNIFIL headquarters, was halted by Israel Defense Forces personnel a few kilometres from its destination in Naqoura. UN-marked vehicles were eventually allowed to proceed. However, local contractors were required to return to Beirut under security arrangements, despite the convoy having been fully de-conflicted in advance, including their presence being explicitly cleared. This is not an isolated incident."
Israeli authorities have maintained civilians and peacekeepers are not being deliberately singled out in their military campaign.
They say the I-D-F has been ordered to continue to widening what they call the security zone.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed he's instructed the military himself to continue striking targets, most recently the southern Lebanon town of Bint Jbiel that he says is a stronghold of Hezbollah.
He says Hezbollah has been a key focus of their talks with Lebanon.
HEBREW THEN ENGLISH VO: "Concurrently, we are conducting negotiations with Lebanon. These negotiations have not taken place for 40 years or more. They are taking place now because we are very strong, and the countries are coming to us, not just Lebanon. In the negotiations with Lebanon, there are two central goals: First, the disarming of Hezbollah, and second, a sustainable peace. Peace through strength."
