U.S. Vice-President J.D.
Vance said in an exclusive interview with Reuters that Iran must make a “meaningful” reduction in its nuclear enrichment capacity to satisfy U.S. demands and end the countries’ seven-month war, even as Washington was unsure how Tehran makes decisions in negotiations.
Mr. Vance, a longtime skeptic of U.S. involvement in foreign wars, has taken a leading role in negotiating a settlement to the conflict and brokered a provisional peace agreement in June that quickly fell apart. The war has jolted global energy markets and become a political liability for President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans ahead of November midterm elections. And if you want to show commitment to not building a nuclear weapon, don’t build highly enriched fuel. That’s a very basic threshold issue,” Mr. Mr. He declined to say if he was leading peace talks, though he is frequently cited as the White House’s top negotiator.
Speaking on Monday (October 5, 2026) after a campaign trip in Alaska, Mr. “If you don’t want a nuclear weapon, then why do you need 60% enriched fuel?
Vance said any agreement would require Iran to reduce its nuclear enrichment capacity, rather than offer assurances of future nuclear drawdowns. Vance said. Vance said the U.S. remained open to an agreement but would require concrete Iranian nuclear concessions. “We’re not going to trade words for actions,” Vance said. He said the U.S. was in talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. But it was unclear how much authority they wield within Iran’s power structure, he said, after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes at the start of the war killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “The problem is actually the opposite: it lies in the contradictory positions and mixed messaging from US officials,” Esmaeil Baghaei told a weekly press conference. “We’re certainly involved,” he said. “Ultimately, the president of the United States is driving things.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Sunday that U.S. officials are well aware of who their Iranian counterparts are and how Iran’s decision-making system works.
