Trump says U.S. close to a nuclear deal with Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had "sort of" agreed to the terms.

"We're in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace," Trump said on a tour of the Gulf, Reuters reported citing a shared pool report by AFP.

"We're getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this... there (are) two steps to doing this, there is a very, very nice step and there is the violent step, but I don't want to do it the second way," he said.

However, an Iranian source familiar with the negotiations said there were still gaps to bridge in the talks with the U.S., according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, an Iranian official earlier told NBC News that Tehran is ready to sign a nuclear deal with certain conditions with President Donald Trump in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.