Trump Says Qatar and Saudi Arabia Want a Peaceful Iran Deal, but U.S. Is Ready to Strike if Needed

President Donald Trump said Monday that Qatar and Saudi Arabia want a peaceful solution to the war with Iran, after meeting Qatar’s prime minister at the White House, but he warned that the United States stands ready to resume military strikes if talks fail.

Trump met Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, in a closed-door meeting at the White House on Monday. Vice President JD Vance also met with the Qatari leader, who visited Tehran last week. Qatar has acted as the main go-between for Washington and Tehran since early in the war.

In a brief phone interview with Reuters after the meeting, Trump said, “Qatar would rather see a peaceful solution” and “Saudi Arabia would rather see a peaceful solution” but “we’re ready to go anytime we want” with strikes. “We’ll see where it goes,” he said. “I’m prepared.”

A deal is not close, officials say

The meeting came as the two sides remain far apart. Iran has proposed ending the war in two days: the United States would lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports, ease some sanctions and halt bombing, while Tehran would stop blocking the Strait of Hormuz, with talks on its nuclear program and further sanctions to follow. Washington has rejected that plan, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that negotiations had made little progress and that he saw no imminent breakthrough.

Trump said he was in no rush to order new strikes and was content for now with the U.S. naval blockade of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei defended Tehran’s plan on Monday and called it the most reasonable offer on the table. The war, which the United States launched alongside Israel on Feb. 28, has now run more than eight months with no victory in sight for either side, according to Reuters.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.