By Michael Hernandez</p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Wednesday with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and discussed ways to counter Iran's "malign influence," according to the State Department.</p> <p>The top diplomats also addressed other regional issues that covered Afghanistan, Libya and Sudan, spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.</p> <p>"The Secretary thanked the foreign minister for his continued efforts to build upon the robust U.S.-Qatar partnership, including follow-through on Qatar’s commitments to fair competition in civil aviation," she added. </p> <p>The meeting came amid a continued push by the U.S. to ramp up pressure on Tehran in conjunction with Washington’s Sunni Arab Gulf allies and Israel. </p> <p>The Trump administration earlier this week decided to stop granting waivers to seven countries and Taiwan to import Iranian oil — the latest effort to scuttle a 2015 nuclear pact with world powers, including the U.S., brokered with Iran.
