US President Donald Trump plans to meet with leaders or foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council states in New York next week to discuss the course of the war with Iran and a potential strategy for the period after it ends, coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly meetings. Trump is expected to brief Gulf representatives on ideas related to a "day after" plan for the war.
Meeting plan and Gulf participation
The US president and a team of senior officials are working on the plan, which is expected to be completed after the midterm congressional elections, according to three sources directly familiar with the meeting arrangements who spoke to Axios. The anticipated meeting will include representatives from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.
The US State Department sent initial invitations to the meeting on Wednesday, while one source said it could be expanded to include other Arab and Muslim leaders. The move comes as Trump said the war with Iran is nearing its end, indicating that Tehran wants to reach an agreement. He added: "They very much want to reach an agreement.
We will see how things go." The US president had previously discussed the possibility of the war ending after the midterm elections, and said Iran was seeking negotiations. In June, Washington and Tehran reached a temporary memorandum of understanding that did not end the conflict, before confrontations later resumed over a dispute regarding the status of the Strait of Hormuz and the mechanism for reopening it to international shipping.
