Miami
IRÁN Trump tells Vance to shift focus away from the Iran war
The U.S. president said he sees no need for talks with Tehran and told his vice president to center his efforts on fraud and crime. The move comes after Republican midterm losses and amid renewed maritime tension near the Strait of Hormuz.
Donald Trump told Vice President JD Vance to stop prioritizing the war with Iran and instead devote his attention to what the president describes as corruption and crime in Democratic-run cities and states.
According to NBC 6 South Florida, Trump delivered that message in a social media post after saying earlier this week that the conflict with Iran is effectively over on the military front and that he does not believe any deal with Tehran is needed.
The shift comes as Republicans deal with the fallout from their midterm losses. Vance, who had led talks around a short-lived truce in the war, has argued that the conflict and its economic consequences damaged the party politically. NBC 6 South Florida also reported that The Wall Street Journal said Vance was weighing a new round of direct talks with a senior Iranian official.
The White House, the outlet said, pointed back to Trump’s post to stress that the president sees no reason to negotiate with Iran. Vance’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
At the same time, waters around Iran remain volatile. The outlet reported that oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have rebounded to near prewar levels, but tankers are now relying on U.S. Navy escorts. The British military reported at least two recent projectile strikes on tankers. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said one vessel was hit Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, northwest of Ras al-Khaimah, with no casualties, and another attack in the Persian Gulf led to several people being taken ashore for medical treatment.
NBC 6 South Florida also said Secretary of State Marco Rubio told G7 counterparts in Paris that he urged them to do more to protect shipping from Iranian attacks, while acknowledging there had been no progress.
Separately, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that the United States asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help facilitate direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran. The White House did not directly answer a question about that claim.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
