US President Donald Trump signaled growing optimism Friday about a potential deal with Iran to end the war amid a temporary ceasefire, saying negotiators could meet as soon as this weekend and that an agreement may be reached within days — boldly claiming there were “no sticking points,” even as US and Iranian officials cautioned that major key issues remain unresolved.

The US leader spoke with a series of news sites Friday and issued a long series of posts on his Truth Social network, following the Iranian announcement that it had opened the Strait of Hormuz as a response to the Israeli-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon, with Trump predicting a deal to permanently end the war in a matter of days and saying that the US would “leisurely” remove Iran’s enriched uranium.

Speaking to the Axios news site, Trump said he expects imminent progress following recent contacts with Iranian officials.

“The Iranians want to meet. They want to make a deal. I think a meeting will probably take place over the weekend. I think we will get a deal in the next day or two,” he said in a phone interview.

While speaking to Reuters, Trump said that he thinks the deal “will go very quickly,” saying, “We’re getting along very well with Iran.”

In a separate interview with AFP, Trump struck an even more confident note, claiming there were “no sticking points at all” left in the negotiations.

“We’re very close. Looks like it’s going to be very good for everybody. And we’re very close to having a deal,” he said, adding that “things are going very well.”

Trump also pointed to developments in the Strait of Hormuz as a sign of progress.

“The strait’s going to be open, they already are open,” he said, after Iran announced it would allow commercial shipping through the waterway for the duration of the current ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In remarks to Reuters, Trump outlined a proposal for handling Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, saying the United States would work directly with Iran to retrieve it.

“We’re going to get it together. We’re going to go in with Iran, at a nice leisurely........

© The Times of Israel