US midterm setback puts Vance at forefront of renewed Iran diplomacy
US vice president JD Vance has taken the lead in backchannel talks with Iran over the past two weeks, seeking to revive a ceasefire and restart stalled nuclear negotiations.
Vance has held near-daily discussions with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir and other regional mediators to push negotiations forward, according to Axios. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed said efforts to prevent further escalation had continued through coordination with officials in Washington and Tehran. The US administration’s intention to find a diplomatic solution, he said, remained unchanged and a deal was possible.
Vance’s involvement comes as the Trump administration explores a diplomatic way out of the conflict, which the vice-president had opposed before it began. He has also linked the war to the Republican Party’s losses in this week’s US midterm elections. US President Donald Trump is allowing diplomatic efforts to continue to see whether a deal with Tehran is possible, although the US military remains prepared to resume strikes at relatively short notice if negotiations fail. “For the past couple of weeks we have worked with colleagues in the US administration who have a genuine intention to find a way to contain the situation and to de-escalate it. He added that talks with the Trump administration had continued after the midterm elections, although they had become less active as Washington dealt with other priorities.