Trump says Iran deal could be signed in 2 or 3 days as Israel and Iran fire after conflict

At least two Iranian air defense personnel were killed in Monday's strike by Israel before the two sides called for a ceasefire, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

The announcement was the first time Iran has acknowledged the death toll from a fire that broke out over the weekend as a result of Israeli strikes in an area south of the Lebanese capital.

A Lebanese broadcaster identified the two men as Bahman Hosseini and Ali Reza Abiri, and said they would be buried outside Tehran.

The Israeli military has issued an evacuation warning for the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, including the Christian Quarter and nearby camps and neighborhoods.

In a social media post, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said Hezbollah was present in the Christian Quarter and warned that any building used by the group could be targeted.

The evacuation order encourages people to go north of the Zahrani River and warns that any movement below that river could endanger their lives.

Israel and Lebanon agreed to renew a ceasefire last week, but the Iran-backed Hezbollah group quickly rejected it. Tehran has previously said that any peace deal with the US and Israel must include a ceasefire in Lebanon.

President Trump said on Tuesday that negotiators were in the “final stretch” of Middle East peace talks, after Iran and Israel said they were calling off a new war that had threatened to reignite months of conflict.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly said that a peace deal with Tehran is close, but negotiations have stalled and the two sides are trading guns despite a ceasefire since April 8.

Iran and Israel “have been going back and forth and now they have both agreed with me to stop and we are in the final stages of what will be a very good deal,” Mr. Trump told reporters after attending the third game of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Asked if it would be days or weeks, he said it would take “two or three days.”

Tehran has also said any deal must include Lebanon — where Israel has been pressing its war against Iran-backed Hezbollah — and fired missiles at Israel on Sunday.

That prompted Israel to retaliate, despite US pressure for restraint.

Iran fired another salvo before announcing a cease-fire, and a few hours later Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that “the fire there has ceased.”

Tehran said on Monday it will attack again if Israel persists with its strikes in Lebanon, while Netanyahu warned that if Iran “makes the mistake of attacking us again, we will respond with all our might.”

A US military Apache helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, and President Trump said its two pilots were “doing fine” after the incident involving a waterway still under pressure from Iran.

The cause of the crash was still unclear Tuesday morning in the Middle East, which was still reeling after Iran and Israel exchanged fire the previous day in the largest-ever ceasefire deal in the Iran war.

Iran's state media, relying on foreign reports, acknowledged the crash, without elaborating.

Mr. Trump spoke to reporters at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after attending Game Three of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.

“The pilots are alive,” he said. “No one was injured. We will issue a report tomorrow. But the pilots are alive.”

The New York Times first reported that an American helicopter had gone down near the road, under unclear circumstances.

President Trump has predicted that the US will be able to “declare a total victory” for Iran in the next two weeks, saying that Iranian negotiators are “willing to give us everything.”

“You will really win this in the next two weeks when we declare a total victory. It will be a total victory, it will happen very soon, and oil prices will go down,” the president said during a tele-rally of GOP Sen.

Mr. Trump has often predicted that the US-Iran war could end in days or weeks, since the war began in late February. However, it is not clear where the negotiations between the two countries stand.

President Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday morning, a White House official confirmed to CBS News.

It was the second call in two days between the US and Israeli leaders, as Mr. On Monday morning, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social that the two countries “must immediately stop 'shooting.'”

In an interview with Axios, Mr. Trump said he informed Netanyahu that several countries in the region want Israel to stop its attacks on Iran, and that Iran – which had fired missiles at Israel – “called us to say no more attacks and asked us to tell Israel not to attack again.” He said he also warned the Israeli leader: “Bibi, you better be careful, otherwise you will be alone soon.”

Both countries said later on Monday that they had suspended their military operations.