President Donald Trump said on Sunday that renewed US strikes on Iran are "highly unlikely" if Tehran signs a strong agreement, according to Dawn, which cited his remarks to CNN. The comments came ahead of a White House meeting on Monday with Qatar’s prime minister, who is mediating in US Iran talks.
Trump said his decision on resuming fighting "depends on whether or not they sign a very strong agreement." He also said the US had identified additional targets in Iran and 38 bridges it would strike if military action resumes, and that three US aircraft carriers are in the region, according to Al Jazeera.
Trump is scheduled to meet Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, at the White House on Monday. Vice President JD Vance is also scheduled to hold talks with him, according to an unnamed US official, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Iran offered the US a new nuclear and peace proposal through Qatari mediators on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported. Tehran has said it will discuss the proposal only after Washington meets its seven demands. The US is examining the proposal, but the Trump administration has not yet responded publicly. Al Jazeera’s report is the only source summarising the seven demands, and the full list has not been independently confirmed.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that negotiations had not made progress. He described Iranian demands as "not just unacceptable, but in some cases, outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic," according to Al Jazeera.
The two sides differ on the state of talks. Trump confirmed on Friday that the White House was speaking with Iranian representatives and that the team had "made a lot of progress with Iran," according to Al Jazeera. Rubio said on Sunday that he did not believe a breakthrough was imminent, citing Al Jazeera and the Straits Times.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said peace talks had been paused because mediators stopped travelling after the US midterm election results, according to Dawn.
Emirati official Anwar Gargash said on Monday that the region could face a prolonged period of uncertainty and that a comprehensive US-Iran settlement appeared difficult, according to the Straits Times. Only short excerpts of that report were available, and it is a bulleted summary of his remarks.
The war began with US-Israeli strikes in late February and is highly unpopular. Trump has acknowledged it was at least partly responsible for Republicans losing control of Congress in the midterms. In the past week, the US military has carried out limited strikes on Iran at least twice. It also disabled a commercial ship on Saturday, which the US said was trying to breach its naval blockade on Iranian ports.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has 440.9kg of uranium enriched up to 60 percent purity, a short technical step from weapons-grade levels, Al Jazeera reported.
The figures on Iran’s economy also differ. Trump claimed on CNN that Iran has 301 per cent inflation, according to Dawn. Iran’s official figures put inflation at nearly 90 per cent year-on-year in September, Dawn reported.
Dawn also reported, citing Iranian state TV and IRNA, that Qeshm island was attacked overnight on Sunday. That account has not been confirmed by a second source. A separate Axios report that US Central Command is awaiting orders to resume operations cites an unnamed US official and has not been independently confirmed.
The outcome of Monday’s White House meeting was not reported in the sources available. The next steps are the Qatari prime minister’s talks in Washington, with Vance also scheduled to meet him, and the US review of Iran’s proposal. Trump has said any decision on strikes depends on whether a strong agreement is signed.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.