EASTORA REPORT | A letter from JD Vance to Tehran has produced two very different explanations in Washington.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the U.S. vice president had written to Mohsen Rezaei, one of Iran’s most powerful security officials, at Donald Trump’s direction in an effort to reopen stalled peace negotiations.
Hours later, Trump denied that account.
Asked at Joint Base Andrews whether he had instructed Vance to restart talks with Iran, the president said: “No.”
Trump did acknowledge approving the contact, but offered a much narrower explanation.
“They need help with medical supplies and various things,” he said. “He asked me what I thought. I said, ‘If you want to do that, that’s OK.’”
“Basically, it’s getting supplies in to help people that are not well.”
The Journal’s reporting described something far more consequential: an attempt to establish whether Washington and Tehran can agree on a framework that could prevent another round of U.S. strikes after the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Vance reportedly contacted Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, as part of that effort.
The outreach comes as Trump keeps both diplomacy and military action on the table. He has repeatedly threatened renewed attacks if Iran refuses to meet U.S. demands, while Tehran says it remains open to diplomacy under acceptable terms.
What the letter actually offered has not been made public.
What is already clear is that Washington is telling two different stories about why it was sent: one about reopening peace talks, the other about medicine.