Iran has received JD Vance's letter but hasn't sent back an answer, the country's Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported Thursday. Neither report said Tehran had ruled out replying later. For now, the U.S. vice president's outreach has brought no announced breakthrough in efforts to restart peace talks.
The message went to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. It arrives as the two sides remain stuck on what should happen before negotiations begin: Tehran wants relief from U.S. pressure, while Washington wants talks about Iran's nuclear program.
Tehran is holding to its conditions
AFP reported that Tasnim acknowledged receipt of the letter, while Fars cited a source familiar with the matter. The agencies' accounts establish that the message reached Iran, without giving a reason for the wait.
Iran is still demanding that Washington meet seven conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Those include a ceasefire across the Middle East, the release of frozen Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector and an end to the U.S. naval blockade. The waterway and restrictions on Iranian ports remain central to the disagreement.
On Thursday, parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran's demands had already been made clear to mediators. In a post on X, he wrote:
Iran’s conditions have been repeatedly and clearly stated to the mediators. The carrot-and-stick approach has no effect on Iran. Progress can only be achieved once Iran’s seven conditions have been agreed upon.
His statement sets out a condition for progress rather than announcing acceptance of Vance's invitation. The American position described by a U.S. official is the reverse: nuclear negotiations should restart before Iran receives sanctions relief.
Trump gives a different account of the letter
As previously reported by Apex, Trump said he approved Vance's approach. Asked on October 28 whether he had directed his vice president to contact Iran to restart peace negotiations, the president said no, then described an effort to get medical supplies into the country.
Reuters reported his explanation:
What that is is they need help with medical supplies and various things. He (Vance) asked me what I thought. I said, if you want to do that, that's okay. Basically, it's getting supplies in to help people that are not well.
An Axios report, citing a U.S. official, put the nuclear issue at the center of the message. That official said Vance suggested writing to Rezaei and that Trump supported the idea, but declined to say when the letter was sent. The Wall Street Journal first reported the outreach.
Rezaei is a senior security figure with a direct line to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, according to the official's account. According to the Journal's account, the letter and subsequent contacts focused on a possible framework for negotiations rather than specific peace terms.
Other diplomatic contacts are still open
Araghchi said on October 28 that Iran remained in contact with intermediaries and was giving diplomacy a chance, even as its armed forces prepared to defend the country. His message described discussions about implementing Iran's plan, rather than accepting Washington's terms.
AFP reported that Qatar and Pakistan were the main mediators discussing a plan with Tehran to end the war and reopen Hormuz. Separately, Reuters reported that a senior Iranian official had dismissed ideas presented by Qatari mediators on Sunday as unacceptable and said they did not amount to an offer.
The medical issue also carries its own dispute. In an August letter to the United Nations Security Council, Iran accused U.S. sanctions of depriving civilians of medicine, medical equipment and other essentials. That is Tehran's stated position on the shortages Trump now says Vance is trying to address.