U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, at the White House on Monday amid stalled diplomatic efforts to end the conflict with Iran.
According to the White House schedule, the meeting will take place behind closed doors. Vice President JD Vance is also expected to meet with the Qatari leader, a U.S. official said.
Qatar has played a key mediating role between Washington and Tehran, relaying proposals and seeking to bridge differences over Iran’s nuclear programme and the terms for ending the conflict.
However, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that negotiations with Iran had made little progress and that he saw no immediate breakthrough.
Speaking before departing Florida for a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Paris, Rubio said Trump preferred a diplomatic resolution but described Iran’s demands as unrealistic.
Trump said on Sunday that he was unlikely to order fresh strikes against Iran if negotiations progressed and produced a strong agreement.
He, however, warned that the United States had identified additional infrastructure targets, including bridges, in the event of renewed military action.
