Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani held talks with top US officials in Florida on Saturday as part of efforts to permanently end the war with Iran , according to Axios .
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff were both involved in the talks, two sources with knowledge of the matter told the news outlet.
The talks came as Iran continued to consider a new US proposal to end the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz .
Pakistan has led international efforts to broker an end to the war, hosting an initial round of peace talks in Islamabad last month that failed to break the deadlock.
But Doha has also been working behind the scenes to bring the two countries closer together and prevent a resumption of a regional war that caused unprecedented destruction across the region and threw the global economy into a severe energy crisis.
The US State Department said in a statement Rubio and Al-Thani discussed US support for Qatar's defence but did not mention Iran.
The Florida meeting came a day after Al-Thani had met US Vice President JD Vance in Washington. He was supposed to travel back to Qatar the same day but changed his plans and flew to Miami to meet Rubio and Witkoff, a source told Axios .
US officials said the Qataris had been "especially effective in negotiations in Iran".
Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have also been involved in mediation efforts.
"The mediators are urging both parties to de-escalate and focus on getting a deal," a source said.
Tehran has given no indication about whether it will accept the Trump administration's latest offer, which would see the US gradually lift its blockade on Iranian ports and Iran re-open the strait over the next month.
Trump said Friday he had expected a response "tonight" and reiterated threats to escalate the conflict if Iran did not respond positively. However, Iran said it would respond at a time it deemed appropriate. The two countries exchanged fire in the strait on Thursday and Friday for the first time since the month-old ceasefire.
The US struck Iranian tankers and military targets and Iran fired on three American warships, threatening to unravel the 8 April truce.
Iran's military spokesperson issued a new warning on Sunday, saying it would escalate the conflict in new and unexpected ways if the US mounts new attacks.
The two countries have engaged in a standoff over the crucial shipping corridor, which has been largely closed since the US and Israel launched the war 10 weeks ago.
Iran has insisted it should retain control over the strait as part of a peace settlement and wants to impose transit fees on ships to generate billions of dollars of revenues.
The closure has triggered a severe global energy crisis and provoked a US blockade on Iran's ports which it has refused to lift until Tehran agrees to a peace deal.
A recent CIA assessment suggested that the blockade would need to remain in place for another four months until Iran's economy faces crisis.