U.S. President Donald Trump signalled Monday that he considers the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran effectively at an end, while saying restrictions on Iranian trade would continue, Al Jazeera reported.

His remarks followed White House talks with Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, about mediation with Iran. Vice President JD Vance also attended the meeting.

“Iran, militarily, is effectively over. We’re just keeping it the status quo,” Trump said at a surprise briefing. “We’re doing that really at the behest of countries that are their neighbours.”

Trump said that approach would include maintaining the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and the newly announced Task Force Iron Gate, which seeks to cut off trade by land.

He said Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and other countries preferred that the United States maintain those measures. That account of their preferences came from Trump.

The Qatari prime minister said on social media that he was “grateful for the positive discussions on reaching a deal and bringing peace to the region”.

Al Jazeera’s initial report did not describe a finalized agreement ending the war. Trump also repeated his claim that the United States had destroyed Iran’s military; the report did not independently establish that claim.

Sources