Vice President JD Vance has spent about two weeks personally involved in indirect talks with Iran aimed at a new ceasefire and a return to nuclear negotiations, Axios reports, citing two sources, as relayed by UNN.
Axios says Vance speaks almost daily with Qatar's Prime Minister, Pakistan's Field Marshal Asim Munir and other mediators. About two weeks ago he wrote to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, proposing resumed direct talks. Axios sources describe progress as real but very slow.
Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said at Oxford on Friday 6 November that diplomacy had slowed but not stopped. "We will never have a perfect peace deal but you can't wait for that perfect moment," he said, according to Bloomberg as quoted by The Tribune.
Shafaq News reported that he said the US and Iran had failed to reach a "comprehensive agreement". Qatar's International Media Office called reports that he said the talks failed "false and misleading". His remarks as reported by Iran International support the denial. He said engagement was less active after the election but had not stopped.
CBS News, citing a US official, reports that Trump phoned Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on Friday to discuss ending the war. Trump said that day: "We are talking to them."