US vice president JD Vance has said Iran must make a “meaningful” reduction in its nuclear enrichment capacity for Washington to agree to an end to the seven-month war.In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Vance said the US remained open to a negotiated settlement but would not accept promises in place of action.“We’re not going to trade words for actions,” Vance said.Vance, who has taken a leading role in efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict, said any agreement would require Iran to reduce its enrichment capacity.“If you don’t want a nuclear weapon, then why do you need 60% enriched fuel?” he said. “If you want to show commitment to not building a nuclear weapon, don’t build highly enriched fuel.”He said Iran would need to take a substantive step on enrichment to demonstrate that commitment.The comments come as Washington and Tehran have exchanged proposals aimed at ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy shipments. US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s latest offer and warned that military operations could intensify after next month’s US midterm elections.
US questions who is calling the shots in Iran
Vance also said Washington remained uncertain about how decisions are made inside Iran, particularly over the authority of Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.The two are among the Iranian officials with whom the US has been in contact, but Vance said it was unclear how much authority they wield within Iran’s wider power structure following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes at the start of the war.“One of the things we picked up on is it’s not totally clear how their country makes decisions,” Vance told Reuters.Iran has pushed back against that assessment. Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said US officials were well aware of their Iranian counterparts and understood how Iran’s decision-making system worked, arguing that the real problem was Washington’s “contradictory positions and mixed messaging”.Trump has similarly said that his “biggest problem” is that nobody knows who is running Iran.
War becomes political problem for Trump
Vance’s comments come as the war increasingly becomes a political liability for the Trump administration and Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections.The conflict is costing about $3 billion a month, according to a Congressional budget office forecast cited by Reuters, while higher energy prices have put Republicans on the defensive in competitive states that could determine control of Congress.Vance has sought to defend Trump’s handling of the war on the campaign trail, urging voters not to let the conflict deter them from supporting Republican candidates.
