US 'will win Iran war and then fuel costs will plummet,' Trump says as UK diesel hits record high price
His comments came amid reports that US and Iranian officials met on Monday as part of a renewed effort to end seven months of war
Donald Trump has insisted the US will win the war with Iran "very soon" and then fuel prices will plunge.
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Mr Trump said that officials talked with mediators trying to end Washington's war with Iran on Monday, adding the US will win the Iran war "very soon."
"We're going to win, as far as I'm concerned, it's going to be one way or the other," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "It's going to go pretty quickly."
Trump also said that gas prices will come tumbling down after the US wins the war.
It comes as the price of diesel hit a record high of 199.33p per litre, according to the RAC motoring organisation, due to supply pressures triggered by wars in Iran and Ukraine.
This is 56.8p more expensive than at the start of the US-Iran war on February 28 this year, when a litre averaged 142.38p.
Mr Trump has threatened to ban diesel exports to bring down the cost for domestic consumers, stating at the weekend: "We're thinking about it very seriously."
Mr Trump's latest comments came amid reports that US and Iranian officials met on Monday as part of a renewed effort to end seven months of war.
The Strait of Hormuz - the key strategic waterway through which one fifth of the world's oil flows - remains the central barrier to efforts to resolve the conflict.
Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran had given the United States a "concrete" seven-day plan to open the Strait of Hormuz.
"If the Americans claim they are seeking an agreement or a peaceful solution, we have presented that solution," Araqchi said.
He said a "normal" maritime passage could be restored in as little as seven days, but added: "The choice now rests with the United States."
US officials separately spoke with mediators on Monday, US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House, without giving further details.
The proposal follows a sharp escalation in Middle East tensions after seven months of war between Iran and the United States, with Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen launching missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia.
The strait has become the central bargaining chip in efforts to end the US-Iran conflict, with Iran seeking relief from the US blockade that is choking its economy and Washington seeking free passage for ships on the global oil supply route now blocked by Tehran.
Iran's seven-day plan envisages an end to all hostilities in Iran and Lebanon, the unfreezing of billions of dollars' worth of Iranian assets, an end to sanctions on Iranian oil and the lifting of the US blockade on Iranian ports.
Iran would then allow the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for oil tankers, and the two sides would also resume talks on Iran's nuclear program and Trump's wish to seize or eliminate its highly enriched uranium.
Trump said on Saturday he had rejected Iran's proposal, saying Iran wanted a swift agreement because of the crippling economic pressure it is under. However, he also told Axios on Sunday that he expected US negotiators to engage in further talksthis week.
Araqchi said on Sunday that mediators had not formally conveyed a US rejection, and that Iran was awaiting Washington's definitive position before deciding its next steps.
"Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met," he said on Sunday, adding that only a negotiated solution could resolve the impasse.