Trump trying to find an exit from the Middle East... Meeting with the Prime Minister of Qatar on the 9th

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kwak Min-seo = U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with the Prime Minister of Qatar, who has acted as a mediator in the Middle East, on the 9th (local time) to discuss a solution to the war with Iran.

It is interpreted that President Trump, whose position has been diminished since the US midterm elections ended in a crushing defeat for the Republican Party, is continuing his attempts to find a diplomatic way out of the Middle East issue.

According to Axios, an American online media outlet, on the 8th (local time), President Trump plans to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on the 9th to discuss ways to conclude a cease-fire agreement with Iran and resume nuclear negotiations.

Prime Minister Al Thani is a key mediator in the indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran that have continued in recent weeks.

According to an official familiar with the matter, Prime Minister Al Thani hopes that President Trump will devote more time to a "diplomatic solution."

As the United States is known to be considering resuming attacks against Iran, the idea is that it should make every effort to reach a peaceful agreement led by regional mediators before resuming attacks.

Axios pointed out that President Trump is also willing to wait for a possible agreement with Iran, but it is unclear how much time will be allowed.

It was reported that Prime Minister Al Thani plans to meet separately with US Vice President JD Vance before meeting with President Trump.

Officials reported that Vice President Vance has continued discussions by phone with Prime Minister Al Thani almost every day during indirect negotiations with Iran over the past two weeks.

In this process, Qatar and other mediators reportedly proposed a plan to begin nuclear negotiations immediately after the United States and Iran exchanged 'mutual trust' measures over two days.

President Trump also continues to make comments that seem to weigh the possibility of an agreement with Iran in recent media interviews.

Previously, in a CBS interview recorded on the 6th and released on the same day, President Trump said about the possibility of expanding the war against Iran, "I don't think there is any reason for that," and "(Iran's nuclear material) is buried under thousands of tons of rocks."

In a CNN phone interview, President Trump said, "It's very unlikely that there will be a need for that," regarding a resumption of attacks against Iran.

CNN reported that President Trump repeated the statement "the possibility is very small" five times during the interview.

However, Trump added, "It depends on whether they (Iran) sign a very strong agreement."

The 'very strong agreement' mentioned by President Trump appears to mean Iran giving up its possession of nuclear weapons and guaranteeing complete free passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

For this reason, some predict that the possibility of an agreement between the United States and Iran is not high.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with reporters before leaving the country to attend the G7 foreign ministers' meeting and said, "I can't say we are on the verge of achieving a breakthrough (on the Iran issue)," and added, "Currently, we are not achieving very productive results."

“The president always wants to resolve every issue diplomatically, but unfortunately sometimes that is not possible,” Rubio said, adding, “Iran’s demands are not only unacceptable, but in some cases absurd and completely unrealistic.”