In an interview with The Financial Times, US President Donald Trump has claimed that indirect negotiations between the US and Iran, facilitated by Pakistani “emissaries”, are ongoing and making positive progress, Al Jazeera reports.

However, he declined to offer specific details, according to the FT, when asked if a ceasefire deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be reached in the coming days.

“We’ve got about 3,000 targets left — we’ve bombed 13,000 targets — and another couple of thousand targets to go,” Trump said, adding that “a deal could be made fairly quickly”.

He also referred to his comments last week, when he said Iran had permitted 10 Pakistan-flagged oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as a “present” to the White House. He said Iran has doubled the number, and that Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, had authorised the move.

“He’s the one who authorised the ships to me,” Trump said. “Remember, I said they’re giving me a present? And everyone said, ‘What’s the present? Bullshit.’

“When they heard about that, they kept their mouth shut, and the negotiations are going very well.”