Vance: US-Iran talks make progress towards peace deal

Washington (ANTARA) – US Vice-President JD Vance said on Monday (2 November) that Washington had made “progress” in talks with Iran, adding that he and President Donald Trump were “quite optimistic” about reaching a negotiated settlement.

“I just spoke with the President of the United States about this, about an hour ago,” Vance told reporters.

“The President and I are both quite optimistic about the prospects for reaching a negotiated settlement. We will continue working towards it,” he added.

“The Iranian side has always been somewhat unpredictable, and as the President has always said, he still has the option of kinetic action [military action]. He also has non-kinetic options, but we have clearly made progress. We will see whether we can make further progress,” Vance said.

Asked whether Iran had been given a deadline before attacks resumed, Vance replied: “No, we have not set a deadline.”

“After disabling their nuclear programme, we want to ensure that they do not rebuild it or try to rebuild it. That is the most important thing for the United States,” he stressed.

“We believe there is a path to that, but it really requires a firm and verifiable commitment that they will not rebuild the nuclear programme,” he added.

Vance made the remarks hours after Trump said at an event marking the reopening of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington that Iran wanted a deal to end the conflict, which is now in its ninth month.

“They want to make a deal, and that could happen,” Trump said, adding that Iran had asked Washington to stop targeting its leaders, “and we will do that”.

Tensions in the Middle East have remained high since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on 28 February, prompting Iranian retaliation across the region.

Despite diplomatic efforts and the signing of a memorandum of understanding by Washington and Tehran in June, tensions have continued over security arrangements and navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.