Trump to meet Qatar’s PM as efforts to end Iran war ramp up
- Last updated: November 9, 2026 | 18:32
US President Donald Trump will meet the prime minister of key mediator Qatar on Monday as efforts to end the Iran war ramp up following last week's midterm elections, though senior US and Gulf officials cast doubt on the chances of an imminent deal.
More than eight months into the conflict he launched alongside Israel on February 28, Trump has played down the likelihood of major warfare restarting soon but remains unwilling to accept an existing Iranian truce plan.
Mutual attacks continue, with the US striking Iran's Qeshm island overnight, according to Iranian state media, and Iran attacking tankers in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz this month while its Yemeni Houthi allies have hit Saudi Arabia.
Diplomatic moves
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who is both prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, will meet Trump and Vice President JD Vance in Washington later on Monday after having visited Tehran last week.
Iran's proposal to end the war involves an end to the US blockade of its ports, the lifting of some sanctions and a halt to bombing in return for Tehran stopping its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with talks on its nuclear programme and other sanctions to follow.
The US has repeatedly rejected that plan, which Iran has said could be condensed to a two-day timeframe, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio describing Tehran's conditions on Sunday as "outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic".
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei defended the plan on Monday as the most reasonable offer on the table.
Senior US Republicans including Vance have blamed their party's losses in last week's elections on the Iran war, but despite growing domestic political pressure to end the conflict, Rubio said he did not believe a diplomatic breakthrough was imminent.
Military action
Sunday night's strikes on Qeshm island did not impact vital infrastructure or services, a provincial official told Iran's semi-official Fars news agency on Monday. The US has not commented on the Iranian media reports.
A senior Iranian source told Reuters that US strikes were targeting Iranian radar systems serving both air defence and ship navigation, as well as bases for missile launchers and mine-laying systems.
Attacks on tankers in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz ramped up sharply in October and have continued at the highest rate since the start of the war, figures from international maritime agencies showed last week.
On Sunday Yemen's Iran-allied Houthi group said it had struck an office building of Saudi state oil company Aramco in Riyadh. The attack blew out windows across several floors of a building in the city's financial district. The Energy Ministry acknowledged damage from an attempted attack on the building without assigning responsibility.
Reuters