'Very good President': Liz Truss backs Donald Trump over Iran war as she insists conflict was 'justified'

The former Prime Minister also told LBC's Tom Swarbrick she believes Trump is a "very good" president.

"I think if we'd had Kamala Harris, the West would be facing a very, very serious crisis," she argued.

She went on: "I believe that the nuclear weapons the Iranians were developing are a threat not just to the Middle East, but to global stability.

She explained that when she was Foreign Secretary and then Prime Minister, she saw former President Joe Biden "kick the can down the road" instead of "calling out" the Iranians.

Her support in favour of Trump comes as the conflict in Iran has crippled international shipping thanks to the ongoing impasse in the Strait of Hormuz.

The effective closure of the critical supply route has inflicted a global economic shock and sent energy prices soaring.

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Oil prices fell on Tuesday while most stocks rose on lingering hopes for a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait.

Donald Trump has said he is ready to renew attacks against Iran if progress is not made at eleventh-hour talks in Pakistan, as the US military is “raring to go”.

The US president also said does not want to extend a ceasefire with Tehran as the deadline on the two-week truce is set to expire in just hours.

“I don’t want to do that. We don’t have that much time,” he said.

Trump insisted the US was in a strong position and was “going to end up with a great deal” as his team of negotiators gear up to meet with Iranian counterparts in Pakistan.

US vice president JD Vance is again leading the US delegation while Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf has been tipped as Tehran’s chief negotiator.

The timing of the second round of negotiations has not been confirmed despite two-week ceasefire's Wednesday deadline - as the world still waits for Tehran to confirm its attendance.

Threatening to resume strikes if a deal is not struck with Iran soon, Trump said: “Well, I expect to be bombing because I think that’s a better attitude to go in with.

“But, you know, we’re ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go,” Trump told CNBC.

The president added: “What I think is that we’re going to end up with a great deal.”“I think they (Iran) have no choice."We’ve taken out their navy, we’ve taken out their air force, we’ve taken out their leaders.”

He again claimed the US and Israel's war has achieved “regime change” and said those now in charge were “much more rational”.

Trump continued: “I think we’re in a very strong negotiating position to do what other presidents should have done during a 47-year period.”

Meanwhile, Mr Qalibaf has accused the US president of seeking to turn the negotiating table into a “table of surrender”.

“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats,” he wrote in an X post and said Iran was preparing “to reveal new cards on the battlefield”.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has been holding discussions with counterparts aimed at safeguarding the strategic waterway, describing it as “a critical diplomatic moment” in the crisis.

On Monday night, Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Trump of increasing pressure on Iran though the blockade and ceasefire violations.

He claimed Tehran refused to negotiate under threat, warning that “we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield”.

A senior Pakistani official also told Reuters that the country had "received a positive signal" from Tehran about attending negotiations and preparations for the talks were still going ahead.

Meanwhile, the former Conservative MP also denied crashing the economy.

Insisting her own economic decisions had "very little" impact on the market turmoil that followed her so-called mini-budget, the former PM instead laid the blame at the door of the Bank of England.

Shunning Starmer's suggestion that she "crashed the economy", Truss insisted that the bank's decision to sell Guilts on the eve of the mini-budget was the reason for the economic slump.

"Now, the difference between me and Keir Starmer is, is I'm a critic of the system. I even wrote back in 2009 that we needed to have an accountable civil service... Keir Starmer is a lover of the system."