Iran calls Vance letter ‘positive’ but rules out US meeting

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has called US Vice President JD Vance's letter to Tehran a "positive step" toward dialogue. He also said Iran has no plans to meet American officials, while regional mediators try to head off renewed US strikes after the US midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3.

"The American side's effort to open a dialogue and reach a broader understanding is viewed as a positive step," Araghchi told Al Jazeera, according to AFP. He added that "currently, there are no plans for meetings with American officials," and that Iran "sees no necessity for a meeting with the Americans" because its conditions are clear and mediators are still discussing them. He also warned that if Washington's aim was "to sow discord, this would be yet another misstep".dawn.com+1

Mediators keep working

Araghchi said one of his aides was in Qatar and that "Qatari and Pakistani mediators are continuing consultations regarding our conditions". On Saturday, Iranian negotiators met Qatari mediators in Doha. That followed more than 12 hours of talks in Tehran on Friday, a source told Reuters. According to the source, Tehran turned down a Qatari plan for seven days of trust-building steps. Iran is still pushing its own plan, which calls for Washington to lift the blockade of Iranian ports and unfreeze Iranian assets before the Strait of Hormuz reopens.jpost.com+1

A letter to a hard-liner

The Wall Street Journal reported that Vance sent the letter to Mohsen Rezaei. Rezaei is secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to the Journal, the letter dealt with a framework for negotiations, not specific peace terms. The aim was to see whether the two sides could find enough common ground to persuade President Donald Trump not to order a short, intense attack. The New York Times reported that the letter proposed a meeting led by Vance. Axios reported that Vance said Iran's nuclear program would have to be part of any talks. Tehran has received the letter but has not formally responded.wsj.com+3

Trump has played the letter down. He said he did not direct Vance to restart negotiations and that the outreach was about medical supplies: "Basically, it's getting supplies in to help people that are not well".reuters.com

Military readiness rises

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei ordered the armed forces on Saturday to be ready to respond to any attack. "Any level or type of threat must be met with an immediate, impactful, and geographically unrestricted response," he said. Trump launched the war alongside Israel in February and has repeatedly hinted that strikes could resume once voting ends.centraloregondaily.com