U.S. President Donald Trump met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Monday to discuss U.S.-Iran negotiations.

Nov. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. President Donald Trump met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Monday to discuss U.S.-Iran negotiations amid renewed diplomatic efforts to end the eight-month-long war.

Both leaders confirmed the meeting, with Al Thani saying on social media that he was "grateful for the positive discussions on reaching a deal and bringing peace to the region," and Trump calling it "an excellent conversation ... wherein much was discussed with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Vice President JD Vance was also present for the meeting.

Al Thani, who seres as Qatar's foreign minister, is a key mediator in the talks and traveled to Washington this week to advance efforts to broker an agreement.

The war, which began Feb. 28 with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, has been deadlocked for months. Though much of the fighting has subsided since midsummer, talks have apparently made little progress toward ending the war.

Trump has signaled that he does not intend to resume major military strikes but has said the U.S. military is ready and willing to do so if necessary.

While the war initially centered on denying Iran the capability to develop a nuclear weapon and encouraging regime change, negotiations have focused on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy route that Iran has militarily restricted since the war began.

Iran has been using its control over passage through the chokepoint as leverage. The United States, in retaliation, has been enforcing a naval blockade of Iran's ports and has launched a military initiative called Operation Iron Gate to compliment the maritime effort by restricting movement of weapons, sanctioned materials and illicit revenue across' Irans'a Land borders and the Caspian Sea.

Discussions on a proposal toward ending the war have been ongoing since Sept. 22, when U.S. and Iranian representatives held indirect talks through mediators on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Iran has presented the United States with a proposal that would have Washington lift sanctions, reduce its military presence in the region and unfreeze Iranian assets, among other conditions, in exchange for Iran reopening shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, paving the way for renewed peace negotiations.

Like Trump, Iran has also stated that it is willing and ready to resume military hostilities and that the United States would be choosing war if it did not accept its proposal.

In his statement Monday, Trump said the United States was seeing "positive momentum toward an end to this conflict," though he did not elaborate.

He said Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and other nations in the region "would prefer the status quo," referring to the continuation of the U.S. naval blockade and Operation Iron Gate and said they all agreed that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

"That is non-negotiable!" Trump said. "Should there be any change with respect to developments in the Middle East, the United States of America is 'locked and loaded' and ready to go."

During a surprise White House press conference alongside Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White, Trump reiterated that he was seeing momentum toward an end to the conflict, adding that he thinks "it's going to be ending fairly soon," a prediction he has repeatedly made throughout the conflict.

"Iran militarily is effectively over," he said.

"And, they're talking to us and they're talking very politely. and, we'll see what happens, but there's a good chance that could get ended."