Vance Weighs Direct Talks With Iran's Security Chief Rezaei as Trump Empowers Him to Lead Negotiations, WSJ Reports

Vice President JD Vance is considering face-to-face talks with Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, The Wall Street Journal reported on November 11, citing U.S. and Middle Eastern officials and people familiar with the negotiations. In recent days, President Donald Trump has told senior advisers and counterparts that he supports Vance resuming diplomatic engagement with Tehran and has empowered him to lead the negotiations.

U.S. officials stressed that discussions about sending Vance to meet Iranian officials directly remain preliminary and that no date has been set. The two countries are still communicating through mediators and regional allies about what comes next. A direct meeting between a U.S. vice president and a senior Iranian security official would be unusual.

According to the report, Vance sent Rezaei a letter in October asking for a meeting. Rezaei later confirmed that he had received the letter but said he did not reply to it. Vance met the prime minister of Qatar on Monday morning, and the two later met Trump and other White House officials. Doha has been considered as a possible venue for the next phase of negotiations if Vance and Iranian officials agree to meet.

Iran's stated conditions for resuming formal negotiations include lifting the U.S. naval blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets and easing sanctions on Iranian oil exports. Iranian diplomats are privately expressing doubt that a deal is within reach and fear Trump could order further strikes. Some Middle East mediators also worry that hard-liners in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could hold more sway than Rezaei and undermine any talks.

Rezaei has hardened his own rhetoric as speculation about a meeting has grown, dismissing negotiations as \"imaginary talks\" and insisting that Iran will not remove even a single particle of enriched nuclear material from the country. Trump renewed his threat of strikes on Monday afternoon, saying the United States was maintaining the status quo on the blockade but could still change course.

(Source: The Wall Street Journal)

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：美国副总统万斯官方肖像（Daniel Torok 摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons；本图已作模糊垫边处理）。 / Photo: Official portrait of U.S. Vice President JD Vance, by Daniel Torok. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; shown with blurred padding.

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