Vance: “A Lot of Progress” in Iran Talks; Neither Side Wants Resumption
US Vice President JD Vance told a White House press briefing on Tuesday that the United States and Iran have made “a lot of progress” in their talks and that “neither side wants to see a resumption of the military campaign”. “We’re in a pretty good spot here,” Vance said. He acknowledged the difficulty of negotiating with a “fractured Iranian leadership”: “It’s not sometimes totally clear what the negotiating position of the team is”, adding that the US is trying to make its own red lines clear. One objective of the policy, Vance said, is to prevent a nuclear arms race spreading in the region.
Vance’s framing — that the negotiating challenge is structural Iranian fragmentation rather than American intransigence — passes the responsibility for any breakdown onto Tehran. Trump’s parallel framing yesterday was sharper: “I was an hour away from making the decision to go today.” Iran’s leaders, Trump said, are “begging for a deal”. A new US attack would happen “in coming days” if no agreement is reached. Iran’s latest proposal terms (per Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi via IRNA) include ending hostilities on all fronts incl Lebanon; US troop exit from areas close to Iran; reparations; sanctions relief; release of frozen funds; end of US blockade. The terms are little changed from Iran’s previous offer, which Trump rejected last week as “garbage”.