US President Donald Trump has said new American strikes on Iran are “highly unlikely” and declared the eight-month war “militarily effectively over”, after meeting Qatar’s prime minister at the White House on Monday. “Iran, militarily, is effectively over,” he told reporters. “We’re just keeping it the status quo.” Washington will keep its naval blockade of Iranian ports in place, largely at the request of Iran’s Gulf neighbours, while its forces stay “locked and loaded” in case of a resumption.

The shift follows last week’s midterm elections in the United States, in which the Democrats took both chambers of Congress; Trump and his vice president partly blamed the war and its effect on fuel prices for the heavy Republican losses. Trump said he saw “positive momentum” towards ending the conflict and hoped it would end “fairly soon”, while repeating that Iran would never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Tehran rejected Trump’s framing as “fake news”. Major General Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, demanded the United States accept Iran’s seven conditions, including an end to hostilities on all fronts, lifting the blockade and sanctions, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and releasing frozen Iranian assets. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said: “The conflict with Iran will not be resolved through military means, nor by intensifying sanctions.” Iran has said it could reopen Hormuz within two days if Washington meets its demands.

Qatar and Pakistan are leading the diplomatic effort to end the war, which began on 28 February when the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran. Pakistan, which hosted talks that produced the June 2026 Islamabad memorandum of understanding, remains “cautiously optimistic” about the mediation, according to Pakistan Times, and army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has pointed to Field Marshal Asim Munir’s recent visits to Tehran alongside Saudi and Turkish officials. Israel’s prime minister has been pressing for fresh strikes, but Trump is holding back for now, although limited strikes have continued, including near Qeshm Island.

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