US Vice President JD Vance has written directly to Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and the longest-serving former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in a bid to revive peace negotiations that have been deadlocked for months, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter.
Source: The Wall Street Journal via investingLive
One person familiar with the matter told the Journal the letter was sent at President Donald Trump's direction and that the president is aware of the outreach. Its aim, the report said, is to test whether enough common ground exists on a framework for negotiations — not on specific peace terms — to dissuade Trump from ordering a short, intense strike on Iran in the coming weeks.
Trump publicly contradicted that account on Wednesday evening. Asked at Joint Base Andrews whether he had directed Vance to begin peace negotiations, he said he had not, and that the contact concerned medical supplies. “Iran needs help with medical supplies. Basically, it's getting supplies in to help people that are not well,” Trump told reporters. In another account of the same remarks, he said Vance had asked what he thought and he had replied that if Vance wanted to do it, that was okay.
The outreach comes with a deadline set by Trump's own threats. On Sunday he told Fox News: “Do I make a deal with them, or do I finish them off? That's the only question.” Two diplomats briefed on the matter told the Associated Press that US officials have told several Middle East countries and regional allies to be prepared for potential renewed military action against Iran after next week's US midterm elections on November 3, while stressing that Trump has not made a final decision.
Tehran's public position has not moved. Rezaei said last week that Iran would not negotiate until its core demands were met. A June memorandum of understanding collapsed over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, talks mediated by Qatar and Pakistan remain deadlocked, and the US blockade of Iranian ports continues — one reason oil prices stayed high before easing slightly on news of the Vance outreach, market reports said.
The United States has not carried out a strike on Iran since early September, but the regional picture has grown more volatile, with Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia escalating while Washington weighs its next move. For the lakhs of Indian and Punjabi workers across the Gulf, whether this letter becomes a talks framework or collapses under the strike threat will decide how safe their jobs, flights and remittances remain in the weeks ahead.