Vice President JD Vance is considering face-to-face talks with a top Iranian security official as he emerges as the lead negotiator with Tehran, in an effort to end a war that has become a drag on the Republican Party, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing U.S. and Middle Eastern officials and people familiar with the negotiations.
In recent days, President Donald Trump has told top aides and counterparts that he is open to Vance restarting talks with Iran and has empowered him to negotiate, the officials said. U.S. officials stressed that discussions about sending Vance to meet directly with Iranian officials remain preliminary and no date has been set.
Vance sent a letter in October to Mohsen Rezaei, the hard-line secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, asking for a meeting, according to the report. The two countries are talking through mediators and allies about what comes next, and Doha has been considered as a possible venue if Vance and Iranian officials agree to meet. Vance met with the Qatari prime minister on Monday, and the two later met with Trump and other White House officials.
A direct meeting between the vice president and top Iranian security officials would be unusual and would show the lengths Vance is willing to go to try to end the war. Rezaei has escalated his rhetoric in recent days as rumours of a possible meeting gained momentum, dismissing any negotiations as "imaginary talks" and insisting that Iran "won't remove even a single particle of enriched nuclear material from the country."
