US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will give diplomatic efforts to permanently end his war on Iran a last, final chance.
"We're going to give this one shot. I'm in no hurry. You never think: 'Oh, the midterms, I'm in a hurry.' I'm in no hurry," Trump told reporters at Andrews Air Force Base, referring to this fall's critical midterm congressional elections, where the war could be a pivotal issue.
"I just, ideally, I'd like to see few people killed, as opposed to a lot," he added, ahead of a trip to Connecticut.
"I just wonder whether or not they have the good of the people, because some of the things they're doing, to me, means they don't have the good of the people, and they have to have the good of the people. There's a lot of anger now in Iran, because people are living so badly," Trump said.
Earlier Wednesday, Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Tehran for his second visit to Iran in less than a week, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported. After his arrival, Naqvi met with his Iranian counterpart Eskandar Momeni at the Interior Ministry.
Pakistan has played a key role in mediating efforts to end the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Regional tensions boiled over Feb. 28 when the US and Israel launched surprise attacks on Iran, prompting Iran to retaliate with barrages of drones and missiles that hit targets across the region as Tehran shuttered the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation, but talks in Islamabad failed to produce a lasting agreement. Trump later extended the truce indefinitely while maintaining a blockade on vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports through the strategic waterway.
Asked by a reporter if he is on the "same page on Iran" as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump responded succinctly: "Yeah."
"He'll do whatever I want him to do. He's a very, very good man," Trump said.
