Trump says 'big armada' to reach Iran 'pretty soon'

United States President Donald Trump repeated that a "big armada" is on its way towards the Middle East amid tensions with Iran, and would arrive in the region "pretty soon", Azernews reports.

At the same time, he hoped an agreement would be reached with Tehran, although he remained cautious about a potential diplomatic solution. "Last time they decided maybe not to do it," he told reporters, referring to last year's talks. "But I think they probably feel differently. We'll see what the deal is ... could it be different this time," he went on.

"We'll see how that works out," Trump concluded.

He also told the reporters that consequences "will be very steep" if Iran does not reach a deal with Washington.

Speaking with journalists while en route to Florida, the US president described the nuclear talks with Iran in Oman as good, adding that the Middle Eastern country wants to make a deal "very badly" and is now "willing to do much more than they would have done a year and a half ago, or even a year ago."

"We're going to meet again early next week. They want to make a deal. They should want to make a deal," Trump said.