Vance Sets Nuclear Talks as Price for Ceasefire

US Vice President JD Vance has outlined a specific condition for ending military tension with Iran: nuclear negotiations.

In a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, Iran’s national security chief, Vance stated that talks to prevent American strikes "require discussions on the nuclear issue." Axios reported the contents of the message on Wednesday, citing a US official. The outlet noted that The Wall Street Journal first identified the correspondence. It is not yet known when the letter was dispatched.

Vance described the communication as the most senior-level outreach from Washington to Tehran in several months. He added that President Donald Trump was "enthusiastic about" the letter. The timing places the diplomatic effort ahead of the US midterm elections, a period when Trump is weighing whether to resume strikes on Iranian targets.

The letter targets a key figure in Tehran’s hierarchy. Rezaei maintains a direct line to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. On Tuesday, Rezaei met with Khamenei following talks with representatives from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan. This session marked the first high-level contact between Iran and those three nations.

The diplomatic moves occur alongside a dispute over the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian media have claimed commercial vessels are hitting sea mines while passing through the waterway. US Central Command, or CENTCOM, has rejected those reports.

In a post on X on Wednesday, CENTCOM stated that "all internationally recognized primary transit routes through the Strait of Hormuz have been cleared of sea mines by US forces and remain so." The command added that thousands of commercial vessels have used the transit lanes safely and continue to do so.