Negotiations to end the war resume in Qatar.

A memorial ceremony in Tehran, Iran, for those killed in the war with the U.S. and Israel on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (Arash Khamooshi/Polaris for The New York Times)

By AARON BOXERMAN, TYLER PAGER, SANAM MAHOOZI, FARNAZ FASSIHI and ADAM RASGON

With Iranian officials in Qatar for talks on ending the war in Iran, President Donald Trump issued conflicting signals Monday over how much progress had been made in the negotiations, vowing that any deal would be “great and meaningful” or “there will be no deal.”

Nearly every vital aspect of a potential peace deal remains unclear, including the fate of Iran’s nuclear program and missile stockpile, whether the agreement would cover the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and whether Iran would continue to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz.

Nor was the timing certain. Trump said his negotiators were in no rush to close the agreement.

He also called on countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia to sign on to the Abraham Accords to normalize ties with Israel as part of the initial agreement — to which they are highly unlikely to agree. If more countries sign up to the accords, it could placate some Iran hawks in the Republican Party who have expressed misgivings about the potential deal.

Iran likewise poured cold water on hopes for an imminent deal to end the war and reopen the strait, which Iran has blockaded since the U.S. and Israel attacked in late February, throttling global oil and gas supplies.

“It is true that we have reached conclusions on a large portion of the issues, but no one can claim that the signing of an agreement is imminent,” Esmaeil Baghaei, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said Monday, according to Iran’s state broadcaster.

Iran has said any agreement should also end the fighting in Lebanon. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Monday that Israel intends to intensify its attacks against Hezbollah, Iran’s ally.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, led his country’s delegation in the Qatari capital, Doha, according to Iranian state media. According to two diplomats, the delegation arrived Monday and also included Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister.

Ending the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran would allow Trump to extricate himself from an unpopular war that has battered the global economy.

In Doha, Iranian and Qatari officials were discussing what to do about two critical issues: the strait and highly enriched uranium in Iran, according to two diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.

On Sunday, a senior U.S. official had told reporters that Iran had, in principle, committed to giving up stockpiles of enriched uranium that could become the basis for a nuclear weapon. The official spoke anonymously to discuss the sensitive talks. On Monday, Baghaei said Iran was not discussing details of its nuclear program.

Speaking at a Memorial Day observance at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, Trump paid tribute to the 13 U.S. service members killed in the war with Iran, saying: “These incredible men and women gave their lives to ensure that the world’s number one state sponsor of terror will never have a nuclear weapon. Oh, and they won’t. They will never have a nuclear weapon.”

Here’s what else we’re covering:

— Oil markets: Oil prices fell sharply Monday, with Brent crude, the global benchmark, down more than 5%, to about $95 per barrel. The price of oil remains around 30% higher than it was before the war.

— Strait of Hormuz: Even if an agreement between the United States and Iran is reached, the flow of oil and gas from the Middle East could take months to return to normal. A lot has to happen before the roughly 1,500 ships that have been stranded in the Persian Gulf can start moving.

— Israel’s reaction: In Israel, talk of a potential deal was received with concern, with some politicians warning it would fail to constrain Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

— Lebanon: As fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah continued in Lebanon on Sunday morning, it was unclear how any U.S.-Iran deal would address the fundamental issues at play in the war there.

— Global diplomacy: The senior leaders of Pakistan, which has been brokering the talks between the United States and Iran, visited China on Monday. China has close commercial ties with Iran and is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil. Shehbaz Sharif, the Pakistani prime minister, posted on social media that he and other top officials had met with Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, and discussed peace talks.