Trump: Iran agreed to hand over the enriched uranium supply

 US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran has agreed to hand over its store of enriched uranium and that the two sides were “close” to a peace deal to end the war that has engulfed the Middle East.

The United States had earlier threatened to resume airstrikes on the Islamic Republic and maintain a naval blockade of its ports if Tehran refused to accept a deal to solve the conflict that broke out on February 28.

At the same time, on another front in the conflict, US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day truce starting on Thursday and said he expected the two countries' leaders at the White House in 'four or five days.'Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim al-Moussawi told AFP the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group -- which has been fighting Israel since early March -- would respect the ceasefire if Israeli attacks stopped.

The Lebanese and Israeli prime ministers welcomed the ceasefire, which came days after the US and Iran agreed a separate truce and as Pakistan pursued diplomatic efforts to arrange a new round of talks between foes Washington and Tehran. Iranian state television on Thursday showed Pakistan's powerful army chief Asim Munir meeting Iran's speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation at the first round of talks last week, which ended without a deal.

The Iranian ambassador to the UN later said Tehran was 'cautiously optimistic' about its negotiations on ending hostilities with the US and expressed hope for a 'meaningful outcome'.US Defense Secretary Hegseth had said Thursday: “If Iran chooses poorly, then they will have a blockade and bombs dropping on infrastructure, power and energy.”Trump later told reporters that 'there's a very good chance we're going to make a deal' with Tehran, adding that he would consider going to Pakistan to sign an agreement.“They've agreed to give us back the nuclear dust,” he said, using his name for the enriched uranium stockpile that the United States says could be used to build nuclear weapons.