WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump directed the vice president on Thursday J.D. Vance divert one’s attention from the war in Iran and is instead dedicated to fighting what the president sees as corruption and crime in Democratic-controlled cities and states.
Vance, who was the lead negotiator for a short-lived truce during the eight-month-old war, was brutal by blaming the war – and the economic repercussions it caused – for the Republicans’ considerable losses in last week’s vote. midterm elections in the United States.
But Trump abruptly asked the vice president, in a social media post Thursday, to divert his energies from the war in Iran to focus on what he sees as a more pressing — and perhaps more politically important — issue after Republicans were defeated at the polls.
“We don’t need a deal with Iran,” Trump said in his message. “Those days are long gone. We have their money, hundreds of billions of dollars, and we have their straits!”
Trump said earlier this week that he believed in war “militarily, it’s effectively over” and appeared to double down on that message by pointedly ordering Vance to “focus his complete and total attention” on its anti-fraud campaign.
The Democrats promised intense surveillance of Trump’s business dealings and other targets when he took control of Congress in January after voters identified corruption as one of their top concerns. Trump’s message on Vance and the Iran war responded, in part, to a wave of reports about Democrats’ plans.
But it also came after The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday evening that Vance was considering engaging in a new round of direct talks with a senior Iranian official.
The vice president’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
The White House press office responded in an email to a question noting that Trump had made clear in his message that he saw no need to negotiate with Iran.
Vance blames Trump’s war in Iran for midterm losses
Vance, who has long advocated restraint in U.S. military interventions abroad, was lukewarm in his defense of the conflict after Trump launched it and became the face of a failed attempt to end the fighting when he led negotiations this summer.
After the defeats of November 3, Vance wrote a long article on X in which he did not mince his words about the political impact of the conflict.
“If you want to argue that it was worth it, that losing the Senate over the next six years was worth it, then do it,” Vance said. “Say it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, at least it’s honest.”
The vice president is weighing whether to run for the White House in 2028. Voter dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of the war could weigh on those ambitions.
The president has not yet named a successor for the 2028 race. In a CBS “60 Minutes” interview broadcast Sunday, the president said he “may or may not get involved” in offering an endorsement.
Trump said earlier this week that he believed Qatar-led mediation efforts were progressing and that he was unlikely to need to follow through on his earlier threats to restart large-scale bombing of Iran after the midterm elections.
The president said Thursday in an interview on the “Hugh Hewitt Show” that he was prepared to restart strikes if necessary. “If something doesn’t work, I won’t hesitate,” he said.
Separately, in an interview with commentator Stephen A. Smith, Trump suggested that he has not ruled out carrying out strikes on Mount Pickaxe, a facility linked to Iran’s nuclear program, if the United States detects signs of activity there.
Waters around Iran remain dangerous
Oil shipments from the Strait of Hormuz have returned to pre-war levels after Iran effectively blocked the critical waterway for months, curbing the flow of crude and energy resources from its Persian Gulf neighbors.
But international tankers now rely on U.S. Navy escorts to extract oil from the strait. The US military recently conducted limited strikes against Iranincluding against its air defenses.
And as exports of raw and liquefied natural gas from the Gulf increase, attacks on ships attempting to cross the waterway have also increased.
The British military reported at least Thursday two tankers were hit by projectiles in recent days while crossing disputed waters near Iran.
The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations Centre, an agency which monitors maritime safety, said one of the tankers was struck on Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, northwest of Ras al-Khaimah. The agency said the crew was evacuated safely and no casualties were reported.
In another incident on Tuesday, the UKMTO said an oil tanker was hit by a projectile in the Persian Gulf. Several people were taken ashore to receive medical assistance while the rest of the crew was unharmed, the agency said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that he had pressed his Group of Seven counterparts during discussions in Paris to “intensify” and help protect ships against Iranian attacks, but acknowledged making no progress on the issue.
At the same time, a Saudi-led coalition is mired in fighting with Iran-backed countries. Houthi rebels in Yemen. This fighting has made the transport of oil and other goods across the country precarious. Bab el-Mandeb strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
Qalibaf says US wants Russia to intervene
Meanwhile, Iran’s chief negotiator and speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibafsaid in an interview that the United States had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to facilitate direct negotiations between the United States and Iran.
“It was the Americans who, during a visit to Moscow, spoke with Mr. Putin and asked him to speak with Iran so that, in any case, Iran would agree to speak directly with them,” Qalibaf told Al Jazeera in the interview. “Look, Russia and Mr. Putin, the Russian president, are friends of ours. We have strategic relations with Russia. We are very close and we hold Mr. Putin in particularly high regard.”
The White House did not directly respond to a question about whether the United States had asked Putin to facilitate negotiations with Iran.
Qalibaf said Supreme National Security Council Secretary Major General Mohsen Rezaei visited Russia and briefed Putin on the details of the negotiations. “He informed him that we have conveyed to the Americans our positions, which represent the legitimate rights and legitimate demands of our people,” he said, adding that it was up to the American side to respond.
“It’s up to them. If they really tell the truth and are sincere in the negotiations, then they should react and start the process,” Qalibaf said. “But if they want to continue on the path to war, then, of course, we are fully prepared for that as well.”
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AP writers Michelle L. Price in Washington and Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed to this report.
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