Trump claims deal to end Iran war near as Tehran says 'nothing' finalised

US President Donald Trump has claimed an initial agreement aimed at ending the war with Iran is close after posting that he had cancelled strikes on the country.

"We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran," he told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told state TV that reports of an agreement were "speculative" and "nothing has been finalised".

Trump has made similar claims in the past that the two countries are close to reaching a deal to end the conflict. Hours before the announcement, Trump had declared he would hit Iran "very hard".

The US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran on 28 February. Iran responded by attacking Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf, and effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz - a key shipping route for the world's oil and liquefied natural gas.

Despite having agreed a ceasefire in April, the US and Iran have exchanged intermittent fire, including two rounds of tit-for-tat strikes this week. At the same time, Trump has also repeatedly talked up the prospects of a deal with Iran.

In the wake of his latest comments the price of Brent crude plunged to about $89 a barrel (£66), down 4.4% on the day.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said: "We have a deal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, which was the whole purpose of what we had to go through to get this. So, it's a very big thing."