U.S. President Donald Trump and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders were in attendance as the U.S.-Gulf summit was held in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Wednesday.
Trump told Gulf leaders that he urgently wants "to make a deal" with Iran to wind down its nuclear program, but Tehran must end its support of proxy groups throughout the region as part of any potential agreement.
Iran "must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars and permanently and verifiably cease pursuit of nuclear weapons," Trump said in remarks at a meeting of leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council hosted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Saudi capital. "They cannot have a nuclear weapon."
The U.S. and Iran have engaged in four rounds of talks since early last month focused on Iran's nuclear program. Trump has repeatedly said that he believes brokering a deal is possible but that the window is closing.
The Republican president's strongly worded push on Iran to cease support of Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen comes as its proxy network has faced significant setbacks in the 19 months since the Hamas incursion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In Iran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called Trump's remarks "deceitful" but did not directly address the U.S. leader's call on Iran to cease support of proxy groups.
Later, Trump, in an exchange with reporters aboard Air Force One, urged Iran "to make the right decision" about its nuclear program "because something's going to happen one way or the other."
"So we'll either do it friendly or we'll do it very unfriendly," Trump warned. "And that won't be pleasant."
Trump said that he believed the moment was ripe "for a future free from the grip of Hezbollah ..."
The Lebanon-based group is severely weakened after its war last year with Israel, in which much of its top leadership was killed, and after losing a key ally with the fall of former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, a conduit for Iran to send arms.
Trump's comments on Iran came after he met Wednesday with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a face-to-face engagement with the onetime insurgent leader, who spent years imprisoned by U.S. forces after being captured in Iraq.
After meeting with members of the GCC – which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – Trump flew to Qatar, the second stop in his Mideast tour.
Like the Saudis did a day earlier, Qatar rolled out the red carpet for Trump. Trump was greeted at the airport by Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim Al Thani, and Air Force One was escorted by Qatari F-15 jets as it neared the capital city of Doha.
Trump as he sat down for talks with the emir at the Royal Court told the Qatari leader he was impressed with the "perfecto" marble as well as the camels that took part in his grand arrival ceremony.
Al Thani, for his part, said he had high hopes for Trump's efforts at ending the grinding war in Gaza.
"I know that you are a man of peace," he said. "I know that you want to bring peace to this region."
Qatar has served as a key mediator, particularly with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, as the international community pursues a cease-fire for Israel genocidal war on Gaza.
Doha also served as host of the negotiations between the United States and the Taliban that led to America's 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Qatar is home to Al-Udeid Air Base, a sprawling facility that hosts the forward headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command.
