Vance Considers Direct Talks With Iran’s Rezaei, WSJ Reports

The Journal, citing U.S. and Middle Eastern officials and people familiar with the negotiations, said talks about a direct meeting remain preliminary. No date has been set, though the two sides are discussing next steps through mediators.

A meeting between a U.S. vice president and senior Iranian security officials would be unusual, the newspaper said.

An October Letter, Still Unscheduled

The Journal said Vance sent Rezaei a letter in October requesting a meeting. That earlier outreach, first reported by the newspaper late last month, focused on a possible framework for talks rather than a detailed peace proposal.

Vance has taken a more active role than special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who remain focused on the war in Ukraine, according to the report.

Trump’s Backing, and a Denial

Officials told the Journal that President Donald Trump has told aides and foreign counterparts he is open to Vance restarting negotiations and has empowered him to lead them. A spokesman for the vice president declined to comment.

The newspaper also reported that Trump had privately criticized a June memorandum of understanding that Vance helped negotiate, saying it gave Iran time to regroup before the United States imposed a blockade. A White House official rejected suggestions that Trump had second thoughts, saying the negotiators had acted in good faith.

Vance has publicly blamed the war for Republicans’ midterm losses.

Iran’s Conditions for Talks

Iran is demanding that the blockade be lifted, frozen assets released and oil sanctions eased before talks resume, the Journal reported. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called those demands “totally unrealistic.”

Mediators have floated confidence-building steps, including a U.S. pullback of aircraft carriers and an easing of the port blockade in exchange for Iran allowing 25 tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials remain skeptical that a deal is near and are wary of further U.S. strikes. Rezaei has dismissed negotiations as “imaginary talks” and denied that a meeting with Vance in Qatar had been arranged. He has also ruled out removing enriched nuclear material from Iran.

On Monday, Nov. 9, Vance met the Qatari prime minister and later joined Trump. The Journal said Doha is a possible venue. Trump said that day that he hoped for a deal, while noting that another U.S. carrier was moving into the region.