Iran war ‘effectively over’, Trump says after meeting Qatar’s Prime Minister

US President Donald Trump said on 9 November that the war on Iran was “effectively over” and that more military action did not seem necessary for now. He spoke after meeting Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, in Washington, Al Jazeera reported.

Qatar is the main go-between in efforts to end the war. Mr. Trump said there was “positive momentum” towards a deal, and that a return to US strikes was “quite unlikely”. Oil prices fell sharply on hopes of a settlement, Al Jazeera reported.

What Mr. Trump said

“At this point, taking the military action doesn’t seem to be a very necessary thing,” Mr. Trump said, according to Gulf News. He added that US forces were “locked and loaded” in case anything changed.

He said the US naval blockade of Iran had stopped everything from getting through and was hurting Iran badly. He said he could not guarantee anything, and that Iran could never have a nuclear weapon.

Iran’s position

Iran has demanded that the US accept its conditions, Al Jazeera reported. One of them is an end to the naval blockade, according to Gulf News. Iran’s full list of conditions was not made public in the reports.

The background

The war began on 28 February with US and Israeli strikes on Iran. It has pushed up energy prices around the world and slowed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic there is well below normal but has not stopped, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre.

The war is also at the centre of a move in the US Congress to impeach Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is accused of waging it without the approval of Congress.

India buys much of its oil and gas from the Gulf, so a settlement could ease fuel and freight costs for Indian companies.

What’s next

Qatar is carrying messages between the two sides. Neither has announced a date for talks or a ceasefire.