US not ready for deal to end Iran war: Trump

WASHINGTON, Mar 15 (AFP): Donald Trump warned that he is not ready to seek a deal to end the war with Iran, as US ally Israel launched a new wave of strikes Sunday and Tehran's Revolutionary Guards threatened to hunt down and kill the Israeli leader.

The US president, in an interview with NBC News, said he thought Tehran was keen to come to the table but that Washington would fight on for better terms and might bomb targets on Iran's oil hub Kharg Island once, again, "just for fun".

More than two weeks into the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic, neither side is moderating its rhetoric despite a mounting death toll and economic damage from soaring oil prices caused by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz sea lane.

"Iran wants to make a deal, and I don't want to make it because the terms aren't good enough yet," Trump told NBC News, warning that US forces would step up strikes on the Iranian coast north of the strait to clear a path for oil shipments to resume.

Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has -- in a written statement -- vowed to keep Hormuz closed. But Trump dismissed this and suggested his foe might not even be in control, saying: "I don't know if he's even alive. So far, nobody has been able to show him."

US President Donald Trump called for other nations' warships to help protect world oil supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz, still virtually blocked Sunday by the threat of Iranian attacks.

Despite sustaining heavy bombardments since US-Israeli forces launched a war against Iran on February 28, Tehran has defied Trump's assertion that its military capability has been "100%" destroyed.

Iran's attacks and threats have nearly halted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route normally used for one-fifth of world oil supplies, sending petroleum prices soaring 40 percent and roiling the global economy.

Its military has deployed drones and missiles against Israel, Gulf energy facilities, and other targets across the Middle East region.

AFP journalists heard blasts in Bahrain's capital Manama, and saw black smoke belching from a major oil terminal in the United Arab Emirates port city of Fujairah. Security sources said the US embassy in Iraq was struck by a drone.

"Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran's attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe," Trump posted on social media Saturday.

"Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area," he added.

After attacks on Iran's oil facilities, toxic black rain endangers public

Clouds of toxic smoke unleashed into the atmosphere by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iranian oil facilities made a dangerous return to Earth in the form of "black rain," prompting international health officials to warn of serious risks to the public.

Residents in Tehran complained last week of burning eyes and difficulty breathing when the dark and oily precipitation fell near the Iranian capital after several fuel oil depots and a refinery were struck.

Plumes of dark smoke have also been seen across other parts of the region over two weeks of war, as Iran retaliates against U.S.-Israeli airstrikes by firing drones and missiles at the oil and natural gas facilities of its Persian Gulf neighbors.

Vital to 'de-escalate'

Iran war: UK

A British minister on Sunday said it was essential to calm the situation in the Middle East after US President Donald Trump demanded that other nations help protect world oil supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

The "plan now has to be to de-escalate the conflict", Energy Security Minister Ed Miliband told the BBC.

A spokesperson for the defence ministry said late on Saturday: "As we've said previously, we are currently discussing with our allies and partners a range of options to ensure the security of shipping in the region."