DUBAI/WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - Israel and Lebanon extended their ceasefire for three weeks at a meeting at the White House brokered by President Donald Trump, ​who said he was prepared to wait for “the best deal” to end his conflict with Iran.

Fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has ‌been one of a number of sticking points to resolving the wider eight-week regional conflict, along with Iran’s nuclear ambitions and control of the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said he was in no rush to reach a peace agreement and wanted it to be “everlasting,” while continuing to assert that the U.S. had a clear upper hand in the naval stand-off in the Strait.

A day after ​Iran flaunted its tightened grip over the key shipping corridor, Trump dismissed the threat posed by Iran’s “little wise-guy ships” and said he believed Tehran was ​hamstrung from making a deal because its leadership was in turmoil. On Thursday, he said the U.S. Navy has orders to “shoot and ⁠kill” Iranian boats laying mines in the strait and the U.S. could knock out in a day any refurbishing of weapons that Iran may have made during ​a ceasefire in place since April 8.

But navigation in the passage remained effectively blocked, and the Iranian capture of two huge cargo ships was a reminder that the ​U.S. struggles to keep control of the strait and Tehran continued to cause trouble for oil markets and pose major strains to the global economy. The U.S. has maintained a blockade