The wedding is taking place this weekend on a small island in the Bahamas, CNN reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the plans.\u00a0Trump\u00a0told reporters on Thursday that Donald\u00a0Trump\u00a0Jr. wanted his father to attend, but that it was going to be a \u201csmall private affair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump said then he would try to make the wedding, but the timing was bad for him.\u00a0\u201cI have a thing called Iran and other things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Friday also saw US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard, who had appeared to be at odds with Trump over the Iran war, announce her resignation.<\/a> Gabbard said in a letter to Trump that she was quitting to care for her husband after he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Gabbard had been forced out.<\/p>\n Doha, which has worked as a mediator in the Gaza war and other areas of international tension, had till now distanced itself from playing a mediation role in the\u00a0Iran\u00a0war after it came under attack from\u00a0Iranian missiles and drones during the latest conflict.<\/p>\n \u201cA Qatari negotiation team is in Tehran on Friday,\u201d the source said, adding that the team had traveled in coordination with the United States and was there to help \u201creach a final deal that would end the war and address outstanding issues with Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n While Pakistan has served as the official mediator since fighting began, Qatar\u2019s re-engagement reflects its longstanding role as a US ally in the region and a trusted back-channel between Washington and Tehran.<\/p>\n A shaky ceasefire is in place in the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, but there has been no major breakthrough, with a US blockade of Iranian ports and Tehran\u2019s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz complicating negotiations.<\/p>\n A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Thursday that no deal had been reached, but gaps have been narrowed, with Iran\u2019s uranium enrichment and its control over the strait among the remaining sticking points.<\/p>\n \t US Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted some progress on Friday but added that more work is required.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s foreign minister met his Pakistani counterpart on Friday to discuss proposals to end the war, Iranian media reported.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been some progress. I wouldn\u2019t exaggerate it. I wouldn\u2019t diminish it,\u201d Rubio told reporters after a meeting of NATO ministers in Sweden. \u201cThere\u2019s more work to be done. We\u2019re not there yet. I hope we get there.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about the Qatari team in Iran, Rubio told reporters that Pakistan was the primary interlocutor in the Iran talks and they had done an \u201cadmirable job.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cObviously, other countries have interests, because especially Gulf countries that are, you know, in the middle of all this \u2014 they have their own situation going. And we talk to all of them. I would just say that the primary country we\u2019ve been working with on all of this is Pakistan, and that remains the case.\u201d<\/p>\n Doha\u2019s re-engagement comes despite\u00a0Iran\u00a0having pounded Qatar with hundreds of missiles and drones, targeting civilian infrastructure and its vital liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facility at Ras Laffan. That attack wiped out roughly\u00a017 percent\u00a0of Qatar\u2019s LNG export capacity. The country had already halted LNG production on March 2 following\u00a0Iranian strikes.<\/p>\n Before the war, about 20% of global LNG trade transited the Strait of Hormuz, primarily from Qatar \u2014\u00a0Iran\u2019s effective closure of the strait has cut off virtually all of its LNG export capacity.<\/p>\n \t Qatar is a designated major non-NATO ally of the United States and hosts Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US military installation in the Middle East.<\/p>\n Rubio reiterated comments made on Thursday that Iran\u2019s plans for a tolling system for the strait were \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re dealing with a very difficult group of people, and if it doesn\u2019t change, then the president\u2019s been clear he has other options,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n He also said the US had not asked the NATO military alliance for help on the Strait of Hormuz but that there needed to be a Plan B if Iran refuses to reopen the waterway.<\/p>\n Two days after presenting the Iranians with the latest US message in the negotiations, Pakistani Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi held another round of talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.<\/p>\n An unconfirmed \u2018final draft\u2019 of a vague deal<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26138627540971-e1779197080528-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tA bride and groom hold a rose as they pose for pictures during a mass wedding ceremony for participants in the \u201cJanfada\u201d (\u201cSacrifice for Iran\u201d) pro-government campaign in Tehran, Iran, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP26137592910021-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tMotorbikes and cars pass through an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2026. (AP\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n
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