Trump on Iran: 'They want to make a deal so badly'

President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his return from the NATO Summit in Turkey, said Iran had "called a little while ago" and that the Iranian government wants "to make a deal so badly."

Trump said he does not know whether Tehran is “worthy of reaching an agreement” or whether it would honor any commitments made. When asked about the Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, he replied that Iran is “sort of crazy” and “a little out of control,” though he insisted that "they want to make a deal, badly."

Hours earlier, the president had stated that he considered the 60-day ceasefire reached with Iran in mid-June to have “ended,” though he indicated that he would allow peace talks to continue.

Meanwhile, the United States launched attacks on dozens of targets in Iran, including the railway line between Tehran and Mashhad, just hours before the funeral of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the eastern city of Mashhad.

The offensive, carried out before the funeral in Khamenei’s hometown, came during a second consecutive day of exchanges of airstrikes between the United States and Iran, testing a fragile ceasefire as both sides continue their dispute over control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

In the financial markets, oil, stock markets and the dollar showed more stable trends on Thursday, as investors assessed the prospects for diplomatic efforts in the Middle East following the latest attacks between Washington and Tehran.

Crude oil prices rose, though much more moderately than on Wednesday, when Trump stated that the fragile ceasefire between the two adversaries had ended following the reciprocal attacks.