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“He feels strongly that they can’t have a nuclear weapon, and he wants them to open up the strait,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, referring to the strategic waterway disrupted by the war.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have begun allowing more ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, state television reported yesterday, after Tehran restricted access following US-Israeli strikes, AFP reported.

Iran effectively shut the strait -- previously used for about one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas supply -- to most shipping after the war with the US and Israel erupted in February.

Although Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire last month, efforts to secure a permanent peace deal have stalled. Pakistan-mediated talks have been suspended since both sides rejected each other’s latest proposals last week.

“Contradictory messages” from Washington had raised doubts about US intentions, Araghchi said, adding that Pakistan’s mediation had not failed but was facing “difficulty”, Reuters reported.

Iran is trying to preserve the ceasefire to give diplomacy a chance but remains prepared to resume fighting, he said.

Key sticking points in the negotiations include Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Trump suggested that recovering Iran’s enriched uranium was largely a matter of political optics after Israel pushed for it to become a central war objective.

“I just feel better if I got it, actually, but it’s -- I think it’s more for public relations than anything else,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview from China broadcast late Thursday in the United States.

“The other thing we could do is bomb it again,” Trump said. “But I would feel better getting it, and we will get it.”

Amid the diplomatic deadlock, Iran recently threatened to enrich uranium to 90 percent -- a level that can be used for nuclear weapons -- if the US resumes attacks on the Islamic republic.