Vance Tells Tehran Any Deal to Halt US Strikes Must Cover Nuclear Issue

US Vice President JD Vance has told Iran that negotiations aimed at preventing possible American strikes would "require discussions on the nuclear issue," according to a report by Axios published on Wednesday. The outlet cited a US official.

Vance made the point in a letter addressed to Mohsen Rezaei, Iran's national security chief. The message centered on the prospect of reopening ceasefire negotiations between Washington and Tehran. According to Vance, President Donald Trump was "enthusiastic about" the letter.

Axios said The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the correspondence. It remains unclear when the letter was sent.

The outlet described the message as the most senior-level outreach from Washington to Tehran in several months. It arrives as Trump weighs whether to resume strikes on Iran after the upcoming US midterm elections.

Rezaei is among Iran's top national security officials and has a direct line to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the report noted. On Tuesday, he met with Khamenei after holding talks with representatives of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. That session was the first high-level contact between Iran and the three countries.

The diplomatic push coincides with a dispute over shipping safety in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian media have reported that commercial vessels are striking sea mines while passing through the waterway. US Central Command, known as CENTCOM, has rejected those reports.

In a post on X on Wednesday, CENTCOM said that "all internationally recognized primary transit routes through the Strait of Hormuz have been cleared of sea mines by US forces and remain so." The command added that thousands of commercial vessels have used the transit lanes safely and continue to do so.