JD Vance Reportedly Sent Iran a Letter With the Key Issue to Restart Negotiations: ‘Enthusiastic’
Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to the Iranian leadership emphasizing that any path towards a new deal must include “discussions on the nuclear issue.”
The letter in question was sent to top Iranian military leader Mohsen Rezaei, who has a direct line to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. “The President was enthusiastic about the letter,” a U.S. official told Axios.
The development comes after another report noted that Iranian leaders will take a proposal detailing nuclear concessions to the U.S. in exchange for sanctions relief to avoid a return to a full-fledged war to Khamenei.
The same outlet detailed that the proposal, put forward by Qatar and supported by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey, would see Iran allowing UN inspectors to visit its nuclear sites in exchange for sanctions relief.
One possibility includes returning to an agreement reached with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which allowed for the resumption of visits to nuclear sites but was later suspended after the UN Security Council reimposed snapback sanctions a month later.
Iran has been insisting that the U.S. first lift its blockade of the country’s ports and release frozen funds. However, Iranian officials said they will take the proposal to the supreme leader for approval in the coming days.
“The idea is that the Iranians will be able to say that they didn’t give up the enriched uranium up front, and the U.S. will be able to say that it got some nuclear concessions from Iran,” a source briefed on the matter told the outlet.
The person went on to say that the White House will analyze the matter depending on whether Iran accepts it.
The latest report stands in contrast with one published by Reuters earlier on Wednesday, in which a senior Iranian official told the outlet that a proposal passed on by Doha only included “unacceptable ideas” that did not amount to an offer.
The official went on to note that Tehran’s nuclear policy remains unchanged and won’t show any flexibility there.
Moreover, Fars news agency, closely linked with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed earlier this week that Khamenei is is urging for faster technological progress, including in the nuclear area.
Khamenei claimed that the “experience of the two recent wars has demonstrated to everyone that this new scientific surge must be deep and rapid,” the outlet added.
