The United States has reached out to Iran to seek to restart peace dialogues at the direction of President Donald Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to Iran’s Secretary of the National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, previously the longest-serving commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The talks are expected to negotiate a framework to end the war. Washington is demanding nuclear concessions, while Tehran is seeking immediate economic relief.
The move comes amid possible fresh US strikes in Iran after next week’s midterm elections. The Pentagon has increased military assets and personnel in the Middle East.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that although his country is open to diplomacy, its armed forces are fully prepared to defend the homeland.
Araghchi said Tehran remains in close contact with intermediaries “to review ideas that can ensure implementation of our 7-Day Plan in even less than a week.”
Iranian Parliament National Security Chief, Ebrahim Azizi, advised the US to build trust and prepare to provide “reliable, implementable, and irrevocable guarantees.”
The lawmaker said both sides must reach a situation where the Iranians are convinced that the Americans “will not return to the wrong path they followed in the past.”
Iran, meanwhile, is weighing a nuclear offer from Qatar-led mediators, which proposes that United Nations inspectors gain access to the bombed nuclear sites.
According to Axios, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has to approve the deal, which will provide Iran some sanctions relief and limited access to frozen funds.