President Trump told reporters on Monday that the war with Iran is “militarily effectively over,” hours after he and Vice President JD Vance met at the White House with Qatar’s prime minister, the leading go-between with Tehran. I think he struck the right balance.
“Iran militarily is effectively over,” Trump said in the briefing room. “We’re just keeping it the status quo,” he added, according to Al Jazeera.
That status quo includes the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and Task Force Iron Gate, the new effort to cut Iran’s trade by land and across the Caspian Sea. “Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and others would prefer the status quo, that we remain as is,” Trump said. “In other words, a continuation of the greatest naval blockade in the history of our country.”
What happened in the Oval Office
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is also Qatar’s foreign minister, met Trump for about 45 minutes, Axios reported, as cited by Iran International. Axios reported that Vance has spoken with him almost daily for two weeks and that he came to ask Trump to give diplomacy more time.
“Grateful for the positive discussions on reaching a deal and bringing peace to the region,” the prime minister wrote on X afterward. Trump called it “an excellent conversation,” UPI reported, and said the United States was seeing “positive momentum toward an end to this conflict.”
Trump also drew a firm line. Every country in the region agrees Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, he said. “That is non-negotiable!” he said. “Should there be any change with respect to developments in the Middle East, the United States of America is ‘locked and loaded’ and ready to go.”
Asked why he does not simply declare the war over, Trump pointed to the Gulf allies. “They are right now a lot safer than they were six months ago because Iran’s been very much decapitated,” he said. “But they’re still the bully of the Middle East a little bit.”
Tehran’s answer
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary, Mohsen Rezaei, answered with insults. “FOLD YOUR HAND. STOP manufacturing FAKE NEWS about imaginary talks,” he wrote on social media, Al Jazeera reported. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei wants an end to what Pezeshkian called a state of “neither war nor peace,” but added, “We will not surrender to force and bullying.”
Tehran still wants sanctions lifted, frozen funds released and its own shipping arrangement in the Strait of Hormuz recognized. Over the weekend Iranian forces also struck radar and navigation equipment on Oman’s Didamar Island, at the mouth of the strait, according to the IRGC’s own claim and satellite images that show burn marks.
Turkey’s intelligence chief said Monday that Qatar would host Vance and Rezaei in Doha next week, Iran International reported. An unnamed Iranian security official denied any such meeting was planned.
The bottom line
The President is doing what a winning commander should do. He is telling Americans plainly that the major fighting is behind us while keeping every point of leverage in place. Our Gulf allies are asking him to keep the blockade.
Rezaei’s taunts tell me the pressure is working. Tehran’s strike on a neutral country’s island over the weekend shows the regime has not earned any relief.
Trump should keep the blockade until Iran gives up enrichment toward a weapon, reopens Hormuz without conditions and lets inspectors back in. Vance and the Qataris can keep talking, and the Navy should stay right where it is.