President Donald Trump reportedly expects to sit down with Gulf leaders next week as his administration searches for a way out of the Iran war. The planned gathering, set for the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, would put the conflict and its aftermath at the center of the agenda.
Donald Trump’s planned UN meeting with Gulf leaders focuses on Iran strategy, claims report
Axios reported that the meeting will focus on US plans for a postwar strategy. It claimed Trump will meet with leaders or foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. Neither the White House nor the State Department has made an official comment on this.
The talks would reportedly be a new test for Donald Trump, who has struggled to define clear goals for a war now in its seventh month. He has offered shifting timelines and objectives since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Tehran hit back with strikes on Israel and on Gulf states that host American bases.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday evening that he hoped the fighting was winding down. “Well, hopefully we are towards the end of the war,” he said. On Iran, he repeated a line he has used before: “They want to make a deal. We’ll see how that works out.” He also said he had heard from Iran “directly,” without giving details.
However, those comments contrast with the reality on the ground. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions. Donald Trump has pointed to weakening Iran’s nuclear capabilities as a reason for the war. Iran does not possess nuclear weapons and insists its uranium enrichment program serves peaceful purposes. The US, by contrast, is nuclear-armed.
The war has also driven up oil and gas prices, a problem for Trump’s Republican Party as the November midterm elections approach. How the Gulf meeting shapes the next phase of the Iran war could carry heavy political weight at home.
This story originally appeared on Realitytea
