The US Secretary of State describes Iran's demands as "ridiculous" and says he does not expect an imminent breakthrough

The White House agenda showed that President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with the Prime Minister of Qatar at the White House on Monday, at a time when the conflict with Iran continues and diplomatic efforts to end it face major obstacles.

Trump is scheduled to meet with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, who also serves as Qatar's Foreign Minister, in a closed meeting. A US official said that Vice President J.D. Vance is also scheduled to meet with the Prime Minister of Qatar.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday, Sunday, that negotiations with Iran had made only minimal progress, and that he did not see any imminent breakthrough, adding that Trump preferred a diplomatic solution.

Rubio called Iran's demands "unacceptable" and, at times, "outrageous, absurd, and completely unrealistic."

This comes as CNN quoted US President Donald Trump as saying, during a phone call on Sunday, that it was “highly unlikely” that he would order new attacks on Iran as long as talks aimed at ending the conflict were making progress.

On the other hand, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told state television in his country, saying: “The mediators’ action has stopped, and the reason for this is the shock that the results of the American elections left for everyone. It will take some time before the atmosphere becomes suitable for the mediators’ action to resume, so we must be patient.”

In parallel, Trump said he believes he will meet this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which will be held in China.

Trump told reporters that such a meeting “would be interesting” and would cover many issues, including nuclear disarmament and ending the war in Iran.

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said on Sunday that his country “has not yet accomplished its mission in Iran.”

Katz accused Tehran once again of seeking to possess a nuclear weapon, which the Islamic Republic has always denied.

He said: "Iran is trying to resume its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons, along with other dangerous efforts that expose the State of Israel to real danger."

It is unclear whether Trump is also prepared to launch new strikes on Iran, especially after the US midterm elections in which his Republican Party suffered a major loss.

American officials, led by Trump, confirmed that the war on Iran and its repercussions were a major reason for this electoral defeat.

On Friday, Israeli Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu and the foreign intelligence service (Mossad) attempted to carry out a strike against Iran on the eve of the Knesset elections, but Washington learned of this and stopped the operation.

In Iraq, Reuters quoted two security sources as saying that production in the Kormor gas field, one of the largest fields in the Kurdistan region, stopped after it was targeted in a drone attack.

The two sources stated that smoke was seen rising from the field. An engineer working at the site said that the attack hit a gas storage facility and that orders were issued to all workers to take shelter for fear of other attacks.

The official Iraqi News Agency quoted the Ministry of Electricity in the Kurdistan Regional Government as saying about the loss of approximately 2,800 megawatts from the system following the targeting of the field that provides gas supplies necessary to generate electricity in the region.

In this context, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi directed the formation of a joint investigative committee with the competent authorities in the Kurdistan region to determine the circumstances of targeting the field, according to the Iraqi News Agency.

According to a statement by the security media in the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the incident “did not result in human casualties, according to preliminary information.”

A joint statement issued by the Ministries of Natural Resources and Electricity in the Kurdistan Region described the attack as “terrorist,” stressing that the two ministries are working to reduce its repercussions to a minimum.

No party claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, Iranian media indicated that the explosions that occurred in the south of the country on Saturday evening were linked to Iranian military activities, not American strikes.

Iranian state television reported hearing explosions in several areas in southern Iran, including Qeshm Island in the strait, but said that officials did not confirm that any missile strikes had occurred on Iranian territory.

On Sunday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced that fires broke out in three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, which is at the heart of the confrontation between the United States and Iran.

The Revolutionary Guard said in a statement on its Sepah News website: “Three illegal oil tankers exploded in the early morning hours and caught fire while they were sailing on the illegal route in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The statement did not specify the name of the carriers or their nationalities.

The Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Sunday that “the Coast Guard Group of the National Guard rescued 22 people of Arab nationalities following a fire that broke out in a cargo ship they were on board in the Sea of ​​Oman.”

On the other hand, the Iraqi Foreign Minister said that the US Treasury Department officially asked Iraq to close all of its border crossings with Iran, except for two, as part of Washington’s policy aimed at increasing economic pressure on Tehran.

In the interview with Al Jazeera, the minister explained that one of the crossings is located in the Kurdistan region, adding, “There are many official and unofficial crossings with Iran, and closing them all is difficult and affects our economy. They (the Americans) are still demanding the closing of the crossings and we are now in discussion with them.”

He added that Iraq's losses resulting from the Iran war and the disruption of oil exports amounted to $60 billion.

Commenting on this, Trump said on his platform, Truth Social, “Task Force Iron Gate is fully operational and effective regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. Besides what is considered the greatest naval blockade in history, very little is entering or leaving Iran!”

On the other hand, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guard, Hussein Mohebi, told the semi-official Fars News Agency on Sunday that the United States cannot achieve its goals of besieging Iran’s economy and closing its trade routes, because Tehran has made preparations and has close contacts with its neighbors.