Vance outlines negotiation challenges with Tehran and decision-making opacity

US Vice President JD Vance stated on Wednesday that the United States remains open to reaching an agreement with Tehran, while pointing out complexities surrounding the negotiation file. Vance told reporters that the American side is holding talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, but Washington does not know the extent of their authority to make decisions, nor does it know who makes the final decisions in Tehran. The US official stressed that Iran must make a substantial reduction in its uranium enrichment capacity to end the war that has been ongoing for seven months. Vance concluded by saying that Tehran cannot claim it does not want to possess a nuclear weapon while continuing to enrich uranium at a rate of sixty percent. It is worth noting that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had previously confirmed his country's readiness to give up its stockpile of uranium enriched to sixty percent, as part of the provisions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. On the other hand, US President Donald Trump stated last Friday that part of the difficulty in reaching an agreement with Iran lies in not knowing who is in charge of the country, claiming that Tehran was left without leadership amid the war.