US President Donald Trump has said that he will have an agreement with Iran to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz "over the next week."
"Looking good, looking good," he told ABC News in a phone interview. "There was a little glitch today, but I turned that one around very quickly, as you probably noticed earlier."
He said the “glitch” was that the Iranians were upset about Israel's attacks on Lebanon.
"So I spoke with Hezbollah, and I said no shooting, and I talked to Bibi (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) and said no shooting, and they both stopped shooting each other," he said.
Trump said a peace agreement with Iran could be "even better than a military victory."
"It's not a simple thing," he said. "You're talking about a real large country - them - very large country making a deal. Tremendous hostility, really."
"So it's not an easy thing for them. It's actually not easy from our standpoint either. But we're getting what we need to get."
As for when the ceasefire extension agreement and a memorandum of understanding to reopen the strait will be completed and agreed to, Trump said: "I think you're talking about over the next week."
He said he has not agreed to it yet because "I still have to get a few more points."
“No troops going to Beirut”
On Monday, Lebanon said Hezbollah had accepted a US proposal to stop attacking Israel in exchange for Israel halting attacks on south Beirut, after Trump reported having a "very good call" with the group.
Under the arrangement, which Hezbollah has accepted, according to a statement from the Lebanese embassy in Washington shared by the Lebanese presidency, "Israeli strikes on Dahiyeh" -- Beirut's southern suburbs -- "would cease in exchange for Hezbollah refraining from launching attacks against Israel".
Israel had threatened to strike the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital again on Monday.
Israel's growing escalation in Lebanon, including heavy bombardment and its deepest ground invasion in two decades, has threatened to scupper the ceasefire between the US and Iran in the wider Middle East war.
Trump said he had persuaded Israel and Hezbollah to de-escalate.
"There will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back," Trump said on his Truth Social network after a "very productive" call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop -- That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel," he added.
