It’s being reported by CNN that the Iranians have said they would prefer not to negotiate with Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner, but instead with Vice President JD Vance.
They think Vance will work harder to end the war and, after previous negotiations, they don’t trust Witkoff and Kushner.
Here’s the news:
Iranian representatives have let the Trump administration know it does not want to re-enter negotiations with special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and would prefer to engage with Vice President JD Vance, two regional sources said.
The message, which was passed through back channels to the US, signals Iran believes discussions involving Witkoff and Kushner wouldn’t be productive given the deficit of trust following the breakdown of negotiations prior to Israel and the US launching military action.
Vance — in contrast to Witkoff, Kushner and even Secretary of State Marco Rubio — is viewed as more sympathetic to wanting to end the war, the sources said.
“The perception is that Vance would be intent on wrapping up the conflict,” one of the sources said.
Though regional players also recognize that it could be risky for Vance to enter into negotiations as it won’t be easy to negotiate an end to the conflict.
Witkoff, in particular remains heavily involved in the portfolio from the US side and the sources said that the Iranians will likely have no option but to engage with whoever the Trump administration sends to negotiate.
“Who the administration decides to send, the Iranians will have to deal with, but it doesn’t mean they don’t have a preference,” the second source said.
As if they have a choice! Honestly, Trump is just being a nice guy in allowing negotiations to proceed at all right now. It’s not like the Iranians are trustworthy in the least, however they do know that Trump both means and does what he says, so they really have no choice but to slink back to the negotiating table.
But their preference for Vance is interesting. Do they think he’s more like Tucker than Trump? At the end of the day, Trump is the one who makes the decisions and Vance won’t lie to him just to make the Iranians feel better.