Indirect ​US-Iran talks ended last week without any ​public sign of headway toward a lasting peace, ⁠despite a 60-day ceasefire intended to create space ​for diplomacy following the US and Israeli strikes that ​triggered the conflict.

“We’re either going to make a deal, or we’re going to finish the job. OK. And it won’t ​be tough to finish the job. I’d rather ​make a deal, because I don’t want to affect 91 million ‌people,” ⁠Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

“We can knock down their bridges in one hour, we can knock out their energy supply…. They don’t have any ​money now. ​We haven’t ⁠given them any money.”

Trump spoke after Khamenei’s weekend funeral, where, rather than looking weakened ​by the war that began with US and ​Israeli strikes on February 28, Iranians appeared to be defiant, united and determined to shape what comes next.

The 60-day ceasefire ⁠was ​intended by Washington to revive diplomacy ​on stopping Iran from developing a nuclear arsenal.