J D Vance-led talks helped build goodwill with Iran despite no breakthrough: Report

A US official familiar with the negotiations noted that JD Vance entered the talks fully aware of the deep mistrust and potential for miscommunication between the two countries.

Talks led by US Vice President JD Vance aimed at securing peace with Iran may not have produced a breakthrough, but the 21-hour discussions helped foster goodwill with Tehran’s new leadership.

The Washington Post, citing unnamed US officials, said the rapport built during the Islamabad meetings has led Washington to believe Iran could still agree to its terms for ending the conflict. The report added that President Donald Trump’s move to announce a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz might pressure Iran into accepting a deal.

A US official familiar with the negotiations noted that Vance entered the talks fully aware of the deep mistrust and potential for miscommunication between the two countries. Over time, however, he and other US negotiators developed a warmer, more constructive dynamic with their Iranian counterparts, said the WP report.

Trump appeared to share the assessment. "We had a very intensive negotiation, and toward the end, it got very friendly," he told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures". "And we got just about every point we needed except for the fact that they refuse to give up their nuclear ambition," he said.

According to the report, it became clear to the US team once talks began that the Iranians did not fully appreciate the far-reaching nature of the Trump administration's insistence that any deal must centre on prohibiting Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.

The US continues to demand that Iran completely relinquish its nuclear enrichment capability, something Tehran has rejected, seemingly hoping Washington might soften its stance. During the talks, Vance sought to clarify this position, the official said

But Vance also used the negotiations to try to decipher how Iran actually felt about the position it was in, and determined that it believed it had more leverage than US officials think is justified by the realities on the ground, according to the US official, who did not elaborate on what the Iranians said.

Armed with a better understanding of Iran's vulnerabilities, the official said the Trump administration now intends to test them.