U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that the ongoing negotiations with Iran will determine "whether we can permanently change relations in the Middle East, or whether we go back to handling things the old way." His remarks came as U.S. and Iranian delegations were reportedly meeting face-to-face in the same room, with Vance, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff present, according to reports.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Sunday that the next hours of talks will determine whether relations in the Middle East are permanently transformed, according to an Israeli source covering the Iranian file. His remarks came as U.S. and Iranian delegations were holding face-to-face talks in the same room, with Vance, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff present, the source reported.
As The Zioneer reported at 15:48 and updated at 15:58, Vance and Araghchi were meeting one-on-one, with Kushner and Witkoff also attending. The source's description of Vance's statement — reported shortly after that update — frames the current session as a potential inflection point in the 60-day negotiating period that Vance himself announced on June 18. Israeli security briefings assessed as early as Friday that the next hours would be decisive for the emerging agreement.
Vance had publicly defended the emerging deal on June 18 as a "win-win" for the United States, saying "if the Iranians don't change their behavior, their military and nuclear program are still destroyed. If they do change their behavior, they'll have a transformative relationship with the Middle East." The talks follow weeks of complex diplomacy, including a June 15 Geneva meeting to set negotiation terms, and an earlier White House statement that military and diplomatic tracks could proceed in parallel.
It remains unclear whether the current session is a single expanded format or a series of bilateral engagements. No official statement from the White House, Tehran, or Jerusalem has confirmed the exact status of the talks or whether a final document is being drafted.
3 developments
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- Strong60-day US-Iran negotiating period begins Thursday, says VP Vance
- DevelopingVance says US wants 'new leaf' with Iran, cites progress in talks
- DevelopingVP Vance: pragmatists winning internal Iran debate, expects final deal to block long-range missiles
Source and signal
- Internal intake