President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain will discuss immigration and other issues at the White House.

The White House says Obama will host McCain on Thursday afternoon. No other senators are joining.

The Arizona Republican lost to Obama in the 2008 presidential election. But he’s been a major White House ally in pushing for a sweeping immigration overhaul. McCain was among GOP senators who backed a bipartisan Senate bill that has stalled in the House.

The meeting also comes as negotiations among the U.S., Iran and other world powers are moving forward to give Iran limited sanctions relief in exchange for scaling back nuclear activities. McCain has been pressing Obama to hold a hard line against Iran and not to let up on sanctions prematurely.

(AP)