President Donald Trump will hold a closed-door meeting at the White House on Monday with Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, according to the official White House schedule.
Sheikh Mohammed also serves as the foreign minister of Qatar. A US official confirmed that Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to take part in discussions with the visiting Qatari leader.
The diplomatic engagement happens as the conflict involving Iran continues and efforts to negotiate an end to the crisis face major obstacles. Qatar has acted as a key intermediary between Washington and Tehran throughout the standoff.
Doha has worked to convey proposals between the two capitals and attempted to bridge gaps regarding Iran’s nuclear programme and the conditions for halting hostilities.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a bleak assessment of the talks on Sunday. Speaking before leaving Florida for a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris, Rubio said negotiations had produced little headway.
Rubio stated that he did not see an imminent breakthrough in the diplomatic process. He reiterated that Trump favoured a political solution but characterised Iranian demands as unacceptable, outrageous, ridiculous, and unrealistic.
Trump addressed the military situation on Sunday. He said he was highly unlikely to order new strikes against Iran if negotiations advanced and resulted in a strong agreement.
Trump warned, however, that Washington had already identified additional infrastructure targets, such as bridges, in case military operations resumed.
