{"id":29237,"date":"2025-05-15T00:03:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T21:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/?p=29237"},"modified":"2025-05-14T23:50:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T20:50:20","slug":"trump-pushes-for-gulf-unity-on-iran-at-gcc-summit-engages-with-syrian-leader-in-surprise-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/trump-pushes-for-gulf-unity-on-iran-at-gcc-summit-engages-with-syrian-leader-in-surprise-move\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump pushes for Gulf unity on Iran at GCC Summit, engages with Syrian leader in surprise move"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

4 minute read<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a high-stakes Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Gulf leaders to support renewed diplomacy with Iran, while also meeting Syria\u2019s new President Ahmad al-Sharaa during his Middle East tour.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the summit in Riyadh on May 14, 2025, President Trump addressed Iran’s destabilizing regional activities, stating bluntly that Tehran \u201cmust stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars, and permanently and verifiably cease pursuit of nuclear weapons. They cannot have a nuclear weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His remarks came amid ongoing U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations, now in their fourth round, and followed the strategic setbacks suffered by Iran\u2019s proxy groups in the wake of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without naming specific concessions, Trump made it clear that continued Iranian support for militant groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis would be a deal-breaker. \u201cI urgently want to make a deal,\u201d Trump told GCC leaders. \u201cBut Iran has to play ball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, aboard Air Force One en route to Qatar, Trump warned Tehran: \u201cSo we will either do it friendly or we will do it very unfriendly. And that will not be pleasant.\u201d Still, he expressed hope for a peaceful resolution, saying, \u201cI believe the moment is ripe for a future free from the grip of Hezbollah terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"U.S.<\/a>
U.S. President Donald Trump with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 14, 2025. (Image Credit: GCC)<\/sup><\/em>

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


A surprise engagement with the Syrian leader<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a dramatic pivot, Trump capped his Saudi visit with a face-to-face meeting with Syria\u2019s new president, Ahmad Al Sharaa, the former jihadist leader known by his alias, Abu Mohammed Al Golani.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al Sharaa emerged as Syria\u2019s de facto leader following the collapse of the Assad regime in December last year. He met Trump alongside Prince Mohammed and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who joined via video link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a real shot at holding it together,\u201d Trump said after the 33-minute meeting. He described Al Sharaa as a \u201cyoung, attractive guy\u201d with a \u201cvery strong past.\u201d Al Sharaa was once on the top of the U.S. most-wanted lists for his ties to Al Qaida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This meeting was Trump\u2019s first in-person interaction with Al Sharaa, who is now trying to rejoin the international fold. Trump announced that U.S. sanctions on Syria that were imposed under Assad\u2019s reign would be lifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This move has been praised by the Saudi leader, Prince Mohammed, who described it as a chance to \u201calleviate the suffering of the Syrian people\u201d and begin a \u201cnew chapter\u201d for the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"U.S.<\/a>
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 14, 2025. (Image Credit: Saudi Press Agency)<\/sup><\/em>

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


Trump in Qatar<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Riyadh, Trump landed in Doha for the second leg of his Middle East tour. As Trump\u2019s Air Force One entered the Qatari airspace, it was escorted by F-15 jets. Trump was greeted by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who welcomed the U.S. President with full pageantry, including a lavish camel parade and marble halls he praised as \u201cperfecto.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two leaders sat for talks at the Royal Court, where Sheikh Tamim said, \u201cI know that you are a man of peace. I know that you want to bring peace to this region,\u201d referencing Trump\u2019s diplomatic ambitions in Gaza and Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the diplomatic tone, Qatar\u2019s history loomed large. Doha has long faced criticism for alleged pay-for-influence scandals and its dealings with U.S. defense contractors. Trump sidestepped those controversies but did not deny reports that Qatar offered him a customized Boeing 747 8 aircraft as a temporary Air Force One.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that he might accept the aircraft, vowing it would eventually be donated to his presidential library.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Regional implications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s Mideast tour marks a pivot from isolationism to pragmatic engagement. By addressing Iran\u2019s proxies at the GCC, opening the door to Damascus via al-Sharaa, and embracing a key U.S. partner in Qatar, Trump is signaling a desire to reassert American influence in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the GCC countries, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE watching closely, Trump made clear that Washington\u2019s path forward hinges on conditional diplomacy and bold, personal engagement. Whether his gambits reshape regional power dynamics remains to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"U.S.<\/a>
U.S. President Donald Trump with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 14, 2025. (Image Credit: GCC)<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a high-stakes Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Gulf leaders to support renewed diplomacy with Iran, while also meeting Syria\u2019s new President Ahmad al-Sharaa during his Middle East tour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[44,1,125],"tags":[99,541,203,93,30,26,215,356,279,27,97,101,13,702,7,141],"class_list":["post-29237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east","category-news","category-united-states","tag-bahrain","tag-gcc","tag-gulf","tag-hamas","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-kuwait","tag-middle-east","tag-oman","tag-palestine","tag-qatar","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-syria","tag-trump","tag-u-s","tag-uae"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/US-Trump-GCC-Summit.jpg?fit=690%2C370&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jJWb-7Bz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29237"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29247,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29237\/revisions\/29247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ir-ia.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}