Trump Holds Closed-Door Talks With Qatar PM as Iran Diplomacy Stalls
US President Donald Trump was due to meet Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani at the White House on Monday. Iran has tabled a two-day peace plan through Qatari mediators, while Trump says new strikes remain possible.
US President Donald Trump was set to hold closed-door talks on Monday at the White House with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, as Washington and Tehran remain far apart over Iran's nuclear programme and how to end the conflict. Here is what to know about where the Qatar meeting with Trump leaves the diplomacy.
Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Qatar's foreign minister, has acted as an intermediary between the two sides. An unnamed US official said Vice President JD Vance is also scheduled to hold talks with him.
Iran has stepped up its diplomacy while Trump has suggested the US could resume full-scale strikes.
Iran's proposal and seven demands
Iran gave the US a new nuclear and peace proposal through Qatari mediators on Thursday. Tehran wants it discussed only after Washington meets seven demands. The US is examining the proposal.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the two-day plan was drawn up with Qatar and builds on a seven-day plan Iran announced at the UN General Assembly in September. He described the sequence this way: “On day one, the US implements a set of measures. On day two, the Strait of Hormuz will reopen, and navigation will be restored to what it used to be.”
Tehran's demands include:
- lifting sanctions imposed after the collapse of a memorandum of understanding signed in Islamabad, Pakistan, in June;
- reducing the US military presence in the region;
- reinstating the oil waivers granted in June under that deal;
- releasing frozen Iranian funds, including money held in Qatar.
Iran also wants a new shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, worked out with Oman, formally recognized and all other routes closed. The strait is a global oil chokepoint. Its final demand is an end to the war on all fronts, including Israel's attacks on Lebanon.
Nuclear stockpile
Tehran says its nuclear programme is peaceful. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran holds 440.9kg (972 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity. That is a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.
Iran's enrichment rose after Trump withdrew from the 2018 nuclear deal, which had capped enrichment below 3.67 percent.
Warnings from both sides
Araghchi warned on Sunday that Tehran will “rain down hell” if the US resumes attacks. Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, told Trump on Saturday: “Start war and you will face a devastating response.”
Trump said on Sunday that Washington had identified additional targets in Iran if military action resumes. He added that new strikes were “highly unlikely” if negotiations produced a strong agreement.
Sheikh Mohammed said mediation continues and that the US has the intentions and willingness to “take steps towards finding a solution”. Trump said on Friday that the White House was talking to Iranian representatives and had “made a lot of progress with Iran”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio disagreed on progress. He told reporters in Florida on Sunday that negotiations with Iran had not advanced.
Araghchi held talks with 12 regional counterparts over 48 hours last week. He called for a regional security arrangement without involvement from outside powers.
