US Vice-President JD Vance is weighing whether to hold direct talks with a top Iranian security official in hopes of bringing the war to an end, reported The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
Vance has emerged as the lead US negotiator in efforts to end the war with Iran, and President Donald Trump is open to having the vice-president restart talks with Iran, US and Middle Eastern officials told the Journal.
Officials stressed that discussions about a possible meeting between Vance and Iranian officials remain preliminary.
Vance had sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s top security body, to ask for a meeting, the Journal reported. Both countries have consulted mediators and allies about possible next steps, sources told the Journal.
Rezaei has dismissed any negotiations as “imaginary talks” and said Iran “won’t remove even a single particle of enriched nuclear material from the country,” the Journal reported.
A day after Republicans lost the House and Senate in the Nov. 3 midterms, Vance blamed the war for the party’s poor results.
Iranian officials believe Republican losses in the midterms give Tehran leverage to demand that Washington lift its blockade, release frozen Iranian assets, and ease oil sanctions.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called their demands unrealistic.
Mediators for the two sides have proposed that the US pull back its aircraft-carriers far enough to reduce the risk of major strikes and ease the blockade on Iranian ports in exchange for Iran letting 25 tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the Journal reported.
Iranian diplomats doubt a deal is within reach because they fear Trump may launch further attacks, the Journal reported.
Trump threatened strikes against Iran on Monday, saying the US was “loaded up to the gills” if an attack was needed.
Rubio and Stephen Miller, the new White House chief of staff, support maintaining pressure on Iran until Tehran makes concessions, officials told the Journal.
Trump defends Iran war
President Donald Trump defended the war against Iran Wednesday at a US Veterans Day commemoration that saw his defence secretary publicly admonished for a lack of decorum.
“The bravery and skill of our amazing American warriors has absolutely been incredible,” Trump said in an address at Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington.
“When this conflict is over, and it will be soon, the entire world will be a much safer and better place, more peaceful place, and a place without the kind of danger that we had to suffer.”
The war, which began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes against Iran, has so far cost the lives of 23 US service members and wounded several hundred more, according to the latest Pentagon figures.
Trump said in his remarks that the conflict was started not by Washington but by Tehran, which “has been waging war on America since 1979.” He stressed that US forces were acting in order to halt Iran’s capacity to build a nuclear weapon.
Trump, 80, attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a sacred symbol for America’s lost service members.
During his speech before troops, veterans and top officials in his administration, Trump namechecked Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was in attendance, saying he had “done a fantastic job.”
Republicans in the US House of Representatives on Tuesday blocked an effort — launched by an outgoing Republican lawmaker — to impeach Hegseth for allegedly waging war without congressional authorization and abusing his powers as Pentagon chief.
Hegseth stirred even more controversy at the ceremony: an army sentinel watching over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier reprimanded a small group of people that included Hegseth, his wife and several aides, when some of them laughed after posing for a picture in front of the sacred site.
“All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times,” the sentinel called out, halting his patrol to face the group as they walked up some stairs to leave. Hegseth turned around to look at the guard.
During his remarks, Trump brought up the issue of the 250-foot-tall (76-meter-tall) triumphal arch he hopes to build just outside the cemetery, saying it would be dedicated “soon.”
On Tuesday, the family of John F. Kennedy asked a court to prevent its construction, arguing the massive structure would block views and cast shadows over the gravesites of the slain president and other Kennedy relatives buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
The project also faces lawsuits from a group of veterans, the city of Washington and the state of Virginia.
