US Vice President JD Vance hoped for an opportunity to “turn over a new leaf” with Iran in a new round of talks Sunday, but the negotiations face major headwinds.
The broader talks are centered on Iran’s nuclear program, but have been dominated by Israel and Hezbollah’s on-again, off-again conflict in Lebanon. Tehran claimed to close the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday to protest Israeli strikes in Lebanon and President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iran if it failed to restrain Hezbollah; Vance conceded “these things are always a little bit messy.”
Trump is fending off domestic backlash over the 60-day ceasefire agreement, while the Islamic Republic’s hardliners could end up “squandering even this enviable deal,” The Atlantic wrote.