President Donald Trump says the United States could end its military attacks on Iran within two to three weeks and that Tehran does not have to make a deal as a prerequisite for the conflict winding down.

The remarks underscored the shifting and at times contradictory statements from Washington about how the war, now in its fifth week, might end.

“We’ll ‌be leaving very soon,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday (local time), saying the exit could take place “within two weeks, maybe two weeks, maybe three”.

Asked if successful diplomacy with Iran was a prerequisite to the US winding ‌down what it has dubbed Operation Epic Fury, Trump said it was not.

“Iran doesn’t have to make a deal, no,” he said.

“No, they don’t have to make a deal with me.”

Earlier on Tuesday, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump was willing to make a deal with Iran to end the war that has killed thousands of people, spread across the region, disrupted energy supplies and threatened to send the global economy into a tailspin.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards hit back with a new threat against US companies in the region starting on Wednesday. It listed 18 businesses including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing .

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says they will target US companies in the region

The 18 companies listed in the IRGC’s threat included Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing.

“These companies should expect the destruction of their respective units in exchange for…

— Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) March 31, 2026

Hegseth, who reported he ‌visited troops in the Middle East on the weekend, said the US was prepared to continue the war if Iran did not ‌comply, he said.

“We have more and more options, and they have less … in only one month we set the terms, the upcoming days will be decisive,” Hegseth said in Washington.

“Iran knows that, and there’s almost nothing they can militarily do about it.”

Responding to the threat against American corporate interests, a White House official said the US military was “prepared to curtail any attacks”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Tuesday said he has been receiving direct messages from US special envoy Steve Witkoff but they do not constitute negotiations, Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV cited him as saying.

The messages include threats or exchanged views delivered through “friends”, he said.

Trump on Monday (local time) threatened to ‌obliterate Iran’s energy plants if it does ⁠not agree to a peace deal and open the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil shipments that has effectively been blocked by Iran.

Overnight, the US ​President on Tuesday criticised again countries such as Britain that have not helped the US war effort. In a social media post, he said that in response to the global fuel shortage, these countries should buy energy from the US or find “some delayed courage, go to the strait and just TAKE IT”.

Not long after Trump’s spray, Buckingham Palace announced the King and Queen would make a state visit to the US in late April to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence and to mark the close ties that exist between the two countries.

British opposition Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey condemned the decision to continue with the trip and accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer Starmer of showing a “staggering lack of backbone” while Trump treated Britain with contempt.

Meanwhile, General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington the ‌US was further degrading and destroying Iran’s capabilities.

He said the US military was continuing to strike key manufacturing and research sites and had taken out over 150 Iranian naval vessels. Hegseth said US strikes were causing widespread desertions in Iran.

With attacks showing no sign of easing, Pakistan is seeking to mediate in the war. The foreign ministers of China and Pakistan have now called for an immediate ceasefire, urging peace talks to be held as soon as possible after they met in Beijing.

Iran has remained defiant despite heavy US and Israeli attacks for the past month.

The Israeli military on Tuesday said it completed a wave of strikes targeting 20 weapons manufacturing sites and a research and development site in Iran.

–with AP