Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf has rejected US Vice President JD Vance's attempt to restart negotiations between Tehran and Washington. Ghalibaf declared that nothing will move forward until an agreement is reached on seven conditions laid down by the Islamic Republic.
"Iran's conditions have been made clear to the mediators time and again, unequivocally. The carrot-and-stick policy has no effect on Iran," Ghalibaf said.
The remarks were published by Tasnim, the news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which derided Vance for waiting on an Iranian reply. Tasnim confirmed that Tehran had received a letter from Vance but had not answered it, and stated that Iran insists Washington meet its demands in full. "Any position that contradicts this framework is unacceptable," the agency added.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Vance had sent the letter to Mohsen Rezaei as part of an effort to revive peace negotiations, and that he did so at the direction of Donald Trump.
Trump disputed that account. Asked by reporters whether he had instructed Vance to reach out to Iran to restart talks, he replied "No," and framed the contact as a humanitarian gesture.
"What that is is they need help with medical supplies and various things. He asked me what I thought. I said, if you want to do that, that's okay. Basically, it's getting supplies in to help people that are not well," Trump told reporters.
