Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in what U.S. officials describe as an attempt to revive stalled peace negotiations between Washington and Tehran. The outreach comes as President Donald Trump weighs resuming military strikes on Iran once the November 3 midterm elections have passed, and as both governments keep testing whether diplomacy can head off another round of fighting.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that Vance sent the letter at Trump's direction, citing U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter, according to Iran International. But Trump offered a different account when asked about it, telling reporters, “No. Iran needs help with medical supplies,” according to the same report. The president did, however, acknowledge separately that he approved Vance's outreach to Tehran, framing it as related to medical supplies rather than a peace push, per Business Times Singapore. The two characterizations do not fully align, and neither the White House nor Iran's government has released the letter's text to clarify which version is accurate.
The New York Post, which first surfaced Trump's public confirmation that Vance had reached out to an Iranian hardliner as part of a peace overture, reported that Rezaei has rising influence in Tehran and has shown hostility toward negotiating with the United States. The same report, authored by Steven Nelson, noted that Rezaei threatened to expand Iranian attacks on targets in neighboring Arab countries, including data centers and internet cables, and that he met with a delegation from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey in Tehran on October 25.
A Hardliner With a Direct Line to Khamenei
Rezaei is a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who was appointed secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council in August, replacing Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, according to The New York Times. The Jerusalem Post reports that Rezaei is one of Iran's top national security officials and has a direct line to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, making him a significant choice of recipient for any American overture. That outlet also described the letter as the most senior-level communication from Washington to Tehran in several months.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Vance's letter stated plainly that “negotiations require discussions on the nuclear issue,” signaling that any renewed talks would have to confront Iran's nuclear program head-on. India Today reports that the letter was focused on creating conditions for talks rather than laying out the terms of a comprehensive peace agreement, and reportedly raised the idea of a new framework for negotiations rather than a finished deal.
Strikes Threatened, Ceasefires Already Failed Twice
The timing is pointed. Trump has threatened to resume bombing Iran after the congressional elections, and has said the United States may conduct another military operation unless Iran agrees to negotiate — though he has also said he doubts Tehran will do so. India Today reports the administration is weighing another round of attacks specifically after the November 3 midterms. The outreach, per that same report, came as Trump considers resuming strikes following the election.
This is not the first attempt at diplomacy this year, and the earlier record is not encouraging. The United States and Iran have twice previously agreed to ceasefires in mediated peace talks, in April and June, and both agreements quickly unraveled, according to Reuters. In April, Vance met with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Abbas Araghchi, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during talks in Islamabad that lasted 21 hours, after the White House confirmed Witkoff and Kushner were traveling to Pakistan for a new round of negotiations, per NPR. Araghchi, who served as one of Iran's lead negotiators, arrived in Islamabad that same week, where Pakistan had already hosted direct U.S.-Iran talks earlier in April, NPR reported.
A June memorandum of understanding fared no better, collapsing just two weeks after it was signed over disagreements about restoring shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Times Now. India Today adds that the June understanding had covered Iran's nuclear activities and Strait of Hormuz shipping but stalled over differences on settlement conditions. By September, Reuters reported that Iran had floated a seven-day plan envisioning an end to hostilities in Iran and Lebanon, the unfreezing of billions of dollars in Iranian assets, an end to sanctions on Iranian oil, and the lifting of the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports — terms that underscore how far apart the two sides remain.
Diplomacy Alongside a Military Buildup
Even as the letter circulated, the United States has been moving additional forces toward the Persian Gulf, including a third aircraft carrier group, Business Times Singapore reported. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Tehran remains committed to giving diplomacy a chance to succeed while keeping its armed forces ready to defend the country, India Today reported. Discussions so far have not produced a detailed peace proposal, according to Times Now's reporting, leaving the outcome of Vance's letter — and whether it leads anywhere before the midterms pass — unresolved.
Vance has spent the days around the letter's disclosure on the campaign trail rather than in diplomatic settings, speaking at a rally in Kinston, North Carolina, and campaigning for Republican candidates there ahead of the midterms. Trump, meanwhile, held a rally at Ohio University's Shoemaker Center in Chillicothe and an earlier rally in Fort Myers, Florida, continuing a midterm push that now runs parallel to the administration's deliberations over Iran.
