WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a “great settlement” with Iran to end the Middle East war, saying he expected a deal to be signed in Europe in the coming days.

Trump’s claim came just hours after he promised fresh strikes against Iran, before saying that he was calling them off as a deal approached. There was no confirmation from Iran.

“We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. Trump said that they would “subject to finalization of documents, which should get done over the next few days, probably have a signing, maybe in Europe. It’s a great thing.” Trump said the deal meant that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon” but gave no details of how that would happen.

Trump added that the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial waterway for the flow of oil which Iran claims to have shuttered — would also open once the deal was signed.

The United States and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28. A fragile ceasefire was agreed in April but both sides have traded fire in recent days. An increasingly frustrated Trump has for weeks veered between proclaiming a deal and threatening Iran, accusing Tehran as recently as Wednesday of “playing us for suckers.” On Thursday morning, Trump vowed “very hard” strikes on Iran that evening and promised to take the country’s key oil infrastructure in what would have been a major escalation. “Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have... cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump said.—AFP

Reuters adds: Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that Tehran had not approved the text of any agreement.

Still, Iranian and Western sources said earlier on Thursday that efforts to reach an interim deal to end hostilities have intensified. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since early April.