Washington, Nov 2026 : US President Donald Trump on Monday said there was “positive momentum” towards ending the conflict with Iran following a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani at the White House. The remarks signalled Washington’s preference for avoiding a renewed military confrontation, even as tensions with Tehran continued.
Trump described his discussion with the Qatari leader as “excellent” and said the two sides had discussed several issues concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Qatar has played a key mediating role in the conflict. The meeting was Trump's first with a foreign leader since his Republican Party suffered significant losses in the US midterm elections.
In the weeks before the elections, speculation had grown that American military strikes against Iran could resume soon after the voting. Trump, however, has repeatedly played down the possibility of renewed fighting, while keeping the option of further military action open.
In his Truth Social post on Monday, Trump said the United States remained “locked and loaded” but described additional strikes as “quite unlikely”. He added that key US allies in the Gulf preferred maintaining the existing situation.
“We are seeing positive momentum toward an end to this Conflict, and will ensure that America's interests are at all times protected,” Trump said.
His latest comments were consistent with remarks he made to CNN over the weekend, when he said a resumption of hostilities was “highly unlikely”.
Iranian leaders, however, continued to reject Washington's pressure and denied suggestions that negotiations were underway.
Mohsen Rezai, a senior Iranian security official, wrote on X late Monday that the United States was behaving like a “desperate gambler”. He urged Washington to “fold your hand” and stop spreading what he described as fabricated reports about imaginary talks.
Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, also accused Israel of drawing the United States further into the conflict. He said Washington and its allies faced serious consequences unless the US abandoned what he called an “Israel First” approach.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities reported that strikes were continuing inside the country, although the US military had not publicly acknowledged the reported operations.
Qeshm Island, strategically located in the Strait of Hormuz, was reportedly targeted overnight between Sunday and Monday, according to the deputy governor of the province, who spoke on Iranian state television.
Trump has also acknowledged that the unpopular war with Iran contributed to the Republican Party's poor performance in the midterm elections. Rising prices in the United States, partly linked to the conflict, have added to domestic political pressure on his administration.
(Disclaimer :The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)
