Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said earlier that the US is hopeful for meetings with Iran “this week”.

Speaking at the F11 Priority event in Miami, Witkoff said that the US are talking to Iran, and added: “We think there will be meetings this week, we’re certainly hopeful for it.

“Ships are passing, that’s a very very good sign.”

He went to say that Trump wants a peace deal, and later added: “We have a 15-point deal on the table that the Iranians have had for a bit of time. We expect an answer from them.”

It came following earlier comments from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who spoke to reporters outside a G7 meeting in France on Friday and said the US has clear objectives and “We are very confident we are on the verge of achieving them very soon”.

He added that the US could achieve its goals “without any ground troops”, and when asked how long the US operation is expected to last in Iran, said “we are talking weeks, not months”.