Iran confirms receiving Vance letter seeking renewed talks, says no response yet - report
Iran has received a letter from US Vice President JD Vance but has yet to respond, Iranian news agencies reported Friday, confirming a diplomatic approach aimed at restarting negotiations and averting another round of US military strikes. Tasnim reported that Tehran had received the message without replying. Fars carried a similar report, citing a source familiar with the matter. The confirmation came a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Vance sent the letter at President Donald Trump’s direction to Mohsen Rezaei, a senior figure in Iran’s security establishment associated with the regime’s hard-line camp.
Left out here: Drops what it reported before
The article describes Rezaei only as 'a senior figure in Iran's security establishment' and a former IRGC commander. It never gives his official post as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, which i24News itself reported nine days earlier. The reader may see the letter as an approach to a hard-line individual rather than to Iran's top security official.
How we know
- i24News wrote earlier“Rezaei, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, wrote on X”‘Not a single gram’ of enriched uranium will be removed from Iran, says Iranian NSC Secretary | LOVE BLOG (opens in a new tab)
According to a separate account citing a US official familiar with the negotiations, Vance offered to meet Rezaei personally to discuss a negotiated settlement to the war. The letter was sent last week. What does it take to strike Iran? An Israeli F-16 squadron commander speaks to i24NEWS The official said Vance framed the proposed negotiations around the national interests of both countries: preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, while allowing Tehran to rebuild its economy and preserve its sovereignty.
Vance also stressed the need for Iranian representatives with the authority to negotiate nuclear issues. A former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Rezaei is described in the account as having substantial influence across the security establishment and close ties to officials overseeing the economy. US intelligence officials reportedly believe Rezaei remains in regular contact with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and that the two have communicated since the letter arrived.
Istanbul or Doha would be the most likely venues for a meeting, according to the US official. The diplomatic effort comes as Washington increases its military presence in the region and weighs the prospects for a settlement against renewed conflict. Suggested articles Israeli soldier charged with passing sensitive military information to Iranian operatives | i24NEWS Qatar awaits Tehran's response to new nuclear deal proposal, i24NEWS learns | Amichai Stein Iran warns of global energy shock if Israel strikes again | i24NEWS
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