Vance Reaches Out to Tehran as Pentagon Readies Post-Election Strikes
JD Vance has written to Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, to try to revive negotiations, the Wall Street Journal reports. At the same time, Pete Hegseth has removed the Pentagon’s top military planner, Lt Gen Brett Sylvia, without explanation. US officials have told Middle Eastern states to be ready for possible renewed military action after Tuesday’s midterms. Brent fell 1.23% to $113.90 this morning.
Donald Trump played down the letter: “If you want to do that, that’s OK,” he said he had told Vance. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Tehran “continues to give diplomacy a chance to succeed”, and offered to implement its “7-Day Plan” in under a week. That plan would reopen the Strait of Hormuz if hostilities end and frozen assets are released. Military signals point the other way. Two US officials told CNN that forces could launch major operations “within 96 hours” of an order; Trump has not decided. Shell, meanwhile, nearly doubled its quarterly profit to $10.81bn on record refining margins.