Is a US-Iran nuclear deal 'closer'? Donald Trump reveals progress on the fourth negotiation.

US President Donald Trump stated Thursday in Qatar, one of the stops on his Gulf tour, that he is close to reaching an agreement with Iran on its nuclear program to avoid a wider conflict.

"We're not going to generate nuclear dust in Iran," Trump said. " I think we're getting closer to maybe making a deal , without having to do that," he added, referring to military action.

Hours earlier, Ali Shamkhani, an advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in an interview on NBC that his country is willing to accept restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for the immediate lifting of U.S. sanctions.

The fourth round of negotiations between Iran and the United States, which began last month, took place on Sunday . These were the highest-level contacts since Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal (JCPOA) in 2018.

"As president, my priority is to end conflicts, not start them. But I would never hesitate to deploy American force if necessary to defend the United States of America or its partners," Trump said at the U.S. base in Al Udeid, Qatar.

After a visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Trump arrived in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday, on a tour in which he addressed all of the region's issues.

Regarding Gaza, he reiterated that Washington wants to take control of the Palestinian territory, devastated by 19 months of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, to turn it into a "zone of freedom."

" I have ideas for Gaza that I think are very good, to make it a zone of freedom, for the United States to get involved and simply make it a zone of freedom," the president said.

The president also warned Yemen's Houthi rebels that the United States could "resume the offensive" despite the ceasefire declared on May 6 , following several weeks of US bombing in retaliation for their attacks in the Red Sea.

"We are dealing with the Houthis, and I think it's a success, but an attack could occur tomorrow, and in that case, we will resume the offensive," he said.

On Tuesday, Trump surprised everyone by announcing the lifting of sanctions on Syria, and the following day he met in Riyadh with President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadist who took power after overthrowing Bashar al-Assad's regime in December.

The trip to the Gulf is Trump's first international tour after a brief trip to Rome for Pope Francis' funeral, and underscores his willingness to prioritize these oil- and gas-rich monarchies over the United States' traditional allies in Europe.

His visits have been marked by economic announcements and investment promises, the very high amounts of which are difficult to verify in the long term.

Saudi Arabia pledged investments of up to $600 billion. Qatar Airways, for its part, announced a $200 billion order for Boeing aircraft.

And Qatar will invest $10 billion "to support this impressive base in the coming years," Trump declared from Al Udaid, the largest US base in the region.

"It's a record-breaking tour. There's never been a tour capable of generating a total of $3.5 billion or $4 billion in just four or five days ," Trump said.