Trump signals end to vice-president’s Iran peace deal push

President Donald Trump declared on Thursday that the United States does not require a deal with Iran and instructed Vice President JD Vance to concentrate his efforts on tackling alleged crime and corruption within Democratic-run cities and states. This directive followed the Wall Street Journal's report that Vance was contemplating face-to-face peace negotiations with a hard-line Iranian security official, a week after Vance had blamed the costly war with Iran for Republicans' significant losses in the midterm elections.

Trump expressed his stance on Twitter, stating that the US "doesn’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!" He referred to the Strait of Hormuz. In recent weeks, Trump had hinted that Iran might be more inclined to engage in a deal following the US elections; however, his administration recently indicated that its blockade and economic sanctions against Iran seem to be yielding results, suggesting that both military escalation and diplomacy may not be viable options.