Trump Halts Vance's Iran Outreach, Keeping Strait of Hormuz Blockade After 8 Months of War
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 12
Trump Halts Vance's Iran Outreach, Keeping Strait of Hormuz Blockade After 8 Months of War
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 12
Summary
Trump said Thursday he had ended Vice President JD Vance’s recent outreach to Iranian hard-liners, arguing the U.S. no longer needs a deal to end the conflict.
Hundreds of billions of dollars in Iranian money and control over the Strait of Hormuz were central to Trump’s case for keeping pressure on Tehran rather than reopening negotiations.
Vance had been exploring a settlement that would reopen the strait and cap Iran’s nuclear program, but Trump said he wants the vice president focused instead on alleged corruption and crime in Democratic-run areas.
The shift follows Vance’s public break with Trump after Republicans’ midterm defeat last week, when he said the more than eight-month war had contributed to the loss amid rising U.S. gas and food prices.
It remains unclear whether all diplomacy is over, though Vance had been Washington’s main recent channel while Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were tied up with Russia-Ukraine talks.