US President Donald Trump told Reuters on Monday that Qatar and Saudi Arabia were eager for a peaceful solution to the Iran conflict, but that the United States was ready to resume military strikes if necessary. The short telephone interview came on the same day Trump met Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, at the White House — the Gulf state's chief mediator in the war.

Source: Reuters via The Straits Times

"Qatar would rather see a peaceful solution," Trump said, according to the Times of Israel's account of the Reuters interview, and on the question of strikes he added: "We're ready to go anytime we want." The Jerusalem Post also reported the interview, describing Trump as saying both Saudi Arabia and Qatar want the Iran war resolved peacefully and that the US stands ready to strike if that becomes necessary. No response from Qatar, Saudi Arabia or Iran to the remarks had been reported.

Trump's own readout: Gulf states back the status quo

In a written readout posted on Truth Social after the meeting, Trump said he had had an "excellent conversation" with the Qatari prime minister, and named Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait as preferring the status quo — which he defined as keeping the naval blockade of Iran and a new operation he called Iron Gate, on land and at sea, in place. He wrote that all agreed Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and called that non-negotiable, said the US remains "locked and loaded" if developments change, and — in the wording reported by Haaretz from Reuters — said renewed military action did not seem necessary "at this point". The text of the post was shared by Axios reporter Barak Ravid; a source cited by Ravid said the White House meeting lasted about 45 minutes and focused on the Iran negotiations, and a diplomat told him the meetings with Trump and Vice President JD Vance were positive. Those meeting details rest on Axios' sourcing.

What was on the table

Al Thani arrived in Washington as the prime mediator between the two sides, after visiting Tehran last week, Reuters reported earlier on Monday. Iran's proposal to end the war involves an end to the US blockade of its ports, the lifting of some sanctions and a halt to bombing, in return for Tehran stopping its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with talks on its nuclear programme and other sanctions to follow. The US has repeatedly rejected that plan: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that Tehran's conditions were "outrageous and ridiculous and really not realistic", while Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei defended the plan on Monday as the most reasonable offer on the table. Senior US and Gulf officials had cast doubt on the chances of an imminent deal before the meeting.

Source: Reuters

The reported interim proposal the Qatari prime minister carried to Washington — reopen Hormuz, lift the blockade, release $8 billion (yaani about $8,000 crore in South Asian counting) in Iranian funds frozen in Qatar — moved oil markets earlier on Monday, before the meeting took place: Read the earlier story: Brent falls to $94 as Qatar takes Iran's $8 billion Hormuz proposal to Trump

Oil prices: Brent settles at $92.57 as peace hopes build

Oil fell to its lowest level since August on Monday as hopes grew for a diplomatic end to the war. Brent for January settlement traded down 5.9% to settle at $92.57 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate for December delivery slid 4.4% to settle at $86.85 a barrel in New York, Bloomberg reported. Prices sank to fresh session lows ahead of settlement following an unconfirmed report from the news outlet Al Arabiya that progress had been made on uranium enrichment, a key sticking point for both sides — Bloomberg said it could not immediately verify that report. "President Trump continues to signal no appetite for further escalation with Iran, keeping downward pressure on crude oil prices," said Ryan McKay, senior commodity strategist at TD Securities. Oil remains up more than 50% this year, and OPEC output last month rose to 88% of prewar volumes, according to a Bloomberg survey, while Iranian production has slumped under the US naval blockade.

Source: Bloomberg via Rigzone

Why this matters in the Gulf — and for Punjabi and Indian workers there

The five states Trump named sit across the Gulf from Iran and host very large numbers of Indian workers, including lakhs of Punjabis in construction, transport, retail and services. For them, the difference between the two halves of Trump's message is practical: a peaceful end would reopen the Strait of Hormuz fully, steady flights and shipping, and remove the strike risk over Gulf cities; the status quo he described — blockade and Iron Gate kept in place, strikes ready — means the war's pressure on jobs, remittances and travel continues. On the ground on Monday, the flare-ups also continued: Saudi Arabia's East-West oil pipeline was targeted in the Medina region, causing a limited fire that was extinguished, the Saudi Press Agency reported, and a tanker was reportedly hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations.

What happens next

Nothing in Monday's statements changes anything on the ground by itself: the US blockade of Iran and the Iron Gate operation stay in place, Iran's seven demands and its Hormuz conditions stay on the table, and Qatar's mediation continues between two sides still far apart on the nuclear file. The next signals to watch are any Iranian response to the post-meeting statements, whether the reported Hormuz proposal moves from intermediaries to a text both sides will discuss, and shipping through the strait itself — where tanker attacks this month have run at the highest rate since the war began, according to international maritime agencies cited by Reuters.