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THE HAGUE

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that "making a deal on Gaza is very close," linking this to recent US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.

"I think great progress is being made on Gaza. Because of this attack that we made, I think we’re going to have some very good news," Trump said during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of a NATO summit in The Hague.

He added that efforts to reach a deal were already advancing before the strike, but claimed that the US strikes on Iran helped accelerate the process.

"It showed a lot of power. I think it helped … Separately, even before this, we were very close to making a deal on Gaza," he said.

Trump also said he was told by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff that "Gaza is very close" to an agreement.

He compared Sunday’s massive bomb strikes on Iran's nuclear plants to the nuclear bombs the US dropped on Japanese cities near the end of World War II.

"That hit ended the war. I don't want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don't want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing, that ended that war. If we didn't take that out, they would have been fighting right now," said Trump.

- Iran-Israel ceasefire

On the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, announced on Monday, he characterized it as going "very good,” adding, "I was so proud of them," unlike earlier remarks when he was apparently angry at them for continuing the fighting.

Trump described the US operation against Iran's nuclear sites as a "perfect operation" and "an unbelievable success," claiming the strike had set back Tehran's nuclear program "by decades."

“I don’t think they’re ever going to do it again," he said.

On whether the US would attack Iran again if it restarted its nuclear program, Trump said: "Sure, but we're not going to have to worry about that, it's gone for years."

Separately, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Iran’s conversion facility, essential for nuclear weapons development, was "wiped out."

"We can't even find where it is, where it used to be on the map. You can't even find where it used to be, because the whole thing is just blackened out. It's gone," Rubio told reporters.

Both Trump and Rubio have disputed an alleged top-secret US report saying the attacks set Iran’s nuclear program back “a few months” at most.

Rubio also said the FBI has launched a leak investigation after classified details of the operation were shared with the media.