Vance confirms US-Iran talks as Hormuz Talks Advance
By The Media Line Staff
US Vice President JD Vance said the United States is in talks with Iran as Washington seeks long-term changes from Tehran, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the current moment offers the best opportunity for an agreement.
“We’re just trying to make sure we get what we need out of this conflict. We destroyed their nuclear program, we destroyed their conventional military, we drastically reduced their asymmetric military capabilities,” Vance told Fox News.
Vance said Washington was assessing whether Iran was prepared to make changes needed to improve relations with the United States. Otherwise, he said, the US would continue applying pressure.
“We’re in the middle of the game here. This thing isn’t over, and it’s certainly no longer at the beginning — we’re in the middle of the game,” he said.
Pezeshkian separately said, “whenever the issue of reaching a deal comes up, I believe now is the best time for it.”
“The US is not trustworthy, but we aspire to make progress with it and resolve the issues at hand,” Pezeshkian said, adding that Iranian officials discuss the diplomatic process daily. “The fighting cannot continue forever. Ultimately, it must end.”
The comments came as negotiations involving the Strait of Hormuz continued. Oman said talks with Iran were “positive and constructive” while condemning repeated attacks on vessels in the waterway, state media reported, according to Reuters.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran and Oman were close to an agreement on managing and establishing a new route through the strait, while maintaining that reopening it depended on other conditions.
A senior American official also told Reuters that Iran and Oman were moving toward an agreement regarding the Strait of Hormuz and the US would lift its blockade on Iranian ports once an agreement allowed trade to proceed without problems.
However, in an interview with Fox News, Vance said that Iranian officials told him that Tehran has “no plans” to charge tolls on the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian officials continued to condition reopening Hormuz on US actions. Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr demanded an end to US threats, the naval blockade and sanctions, along with the withdrawal of US naval and air forces from Iran’s vicinity.
Meanwhile, UKMTO reported a vessel was struck by an unknown missile about 33 kilometers east of Khasab, Oman. The resulting fire was extinguished and the crew was safe, Reuters reported.
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