DUBAI: Iran hit an oil tanker off the coast of Qatar and Kuwait’s airport on Wednesday, while airstrikes battered Tehran even as US President Donald Trump said he was nearly ready to wind down the war and claimed that Iran’s president wanted a ceasefire.

Iran had no immediate response to Trump’s claim on social media that “Iran’s New Regime President” was seeking a ceasefire, which Trump said would only happen once the Strait of Hormuz was “open, free, clear”.

It wasn’t immediately clear who Trump was referring to in Iran, which still has the same president.