Vance writes to Iran's Rezaei to revive talks as Trump weighs strikes after midterms

A letter to Tehran's security chief

Vice President JD Vance wrote to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in an attempt to restart comprehensive peace negotiations, according to a senior U.S. official and an Iranian official cited by The New York Times. The letter went through Qatari mediators and was handed to Rezaei on Sunday, 25 October. In it, Vance proposed that American and Iranian officials meet soon and said he would lead the talks for the United States. The Wall Street Journal described the document as a framework for negotiations rather than a finished peace agreement, and the letter has not been made public. Axios, citing a U.S. official, reported that any talks meant to head off strikes would have to cover Iran's nuclear program.

Iran's position and the timetable

The Iranian official told the Times that Tehran received the proposal well, and Rezaei was expected to give a formal reply by Thursday, 29 October. Berliner Zeitung reported that talks could begin in Qatar or Turkey in the week of 2 November, a timing it said had not yet been confirmed. Iran's demands and Washington's point in different directions, according to the reports: Tehran wants the U.S. blockade of its ports eased and economic relief first, while the United States wants concessions on the nuclear question. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X on Wednesday that Tehran "continues to give diplomacy a chance to succeed" and is working with mediators on ideas from an earlier proposal that Trump rejected last month.

Trump's account

Trump confirmed on Wednesday that Vance had discussed the outreach with him, and said Vance asked whether he should write the letter and that he had told him to go ahead. He rejected the idea that he had started the initiative, and he described its purpose differently from the press reports, saying it was about getting medicine and other aid to Iran. Pressed on the matter before a rally in Ohio, he said:

“He asked me what I thought. I said, if you want to do that, that's okay.”

On Sunday, Trump had told Fox News that he was choosing between making a deal with Iran and finishing it off, according to The Independent.

Strikes weighed after the midterms

Trump has been weighing a renewed campaign of strikes after the midterm elections on 3 November, and the New York Times reported that the U.S. military has drawn up an expanded target list that includes energy infrastructure. Two diplomats briefed on the matter told the Associated Press that Washington has asked several Middle East countries and allies to prepare for possible renewed military action, though Trump has not made a final decision. Iran has warned that it would retaliate fiercely, targeting infrastructure and underwater cables in the region. Since early September neither country has carried out large-scale attacks on land targets, and the confrontation has played out mainly at sea, with a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and Iran trying to control the Strait of Hormuz. The Independent also linked the rising tension to an escalation of Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia.