US VP Vance contacted top Iran security official: report

WASHINGTON: Vice President JD Vance has contacted Iran’s security chief in a bid to revive peace talks that could head off a renewed American assault on the Islamic republic, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Vance sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the Journal reported, in a move that one of the newspaper’s sources said was directed by President Donald Trump.

The letter – as well as subsequent talks between US and Iranian officials – focused on a possible framework for negotiations rather than specifics of a peace proposal, the Journal said.

The war, which the United States and Israel launched in late February, has severely disrupted energy shipments from Gulf countries, causing global economic fallout.

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Iran began blockading the key Strait of Hormuz waterway, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas used to travel, after the conflict began and regularly attacks vessels that attempt to cross without its authorization.

The United States has meanwhile maintained a naval blockade of Iranian ports, seeking to squeeze the country’s economy.

The Journal also reported Wednesday that Washington had told several Gulf Arab countries to prepare for a possible “short, intense military campaign” against Iran after the US midterm elections on November 3.

But the newspaper, citing people briefed on the conversations, said Trump had not made a final decision.

Iran’s military has meanwhile warned it would retaliate more widely against any new attack, with Rezaei saying it could strike US-related infrastructure including data centers and other artificial intelligence targets.