Vance tests diplomatic route to Iran as Trump weighs escalation

File photo: US Vice President JD Vance and Mohsen Rezaei US vice president JD Vance has opened a direct channel to one of Iran’s most powerful hard-liners in an attempt to revive peace negotiations according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. This developments comes even as US president Donald Trump threatens to resume military strikes in the coming weeks.Vance sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in an outreach intended to test whether Washington and Tehran can agree on a framework for negotiations. The letter was sent at Trump’s direction, according to one person familiar with the matter cited by WSJ, and the president is aware of the initiative.The effort comes as Trump weighs a short, intense new attack on Iran after next week’s US midterm elections. Vance is seeking to establish whether diplomacy can avert another round of fighting, though the discussions have yet to produce a detailed peace proposal. Rezaei said last week that Iran would not negotiate with Washington until its core demands were met.The outreach marks a delicate balancing act for Vance,...