Trump denies peace talks
\n washington
\nUS President Donald Trump said that Vice President JD Vance\u2019s outreach to Iran was about helping the country get medical supplies, after US media reported Vance had written to Tehran\u2019s top security official to revive peace talks.
\nTehran has received a letter from Vance, but it has not responded to it yet, Iran\u2019s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday.
\nVance sent the letter to Iranian Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei in a bid to revive peace negotiations, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the reports.
\nThe Wall Street Journal reported that Vance sent the letter at Trump\u2019s direction. When asked by reporters later on Wednesday if he directed Vance to reach out to Iran to restart peace negotiations, Trump said: \u201cNo.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat that is is they need help with medical supplies and various things. He (Vance) asked me what I thought. I said, if you want to do that, that\u2019s okay. Basically, it\u2019s getting supplies in to help people that are not well,\u201d Trump told reporters.
\nIran\u2019s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter and Trump\u2019s remark. Vance\u2019s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
\nThe United States and Israel launched a war against Iran at the end of February. The US has also since imposed a naval blockade on Iran to starve it of oil export revenue and escalated efforts to economically isolate Iran.
\nIran has long blamed US sanctions for hindering civilian access to medical supplies.
\nIn an August letter to the UN Security Council, Iran accused the US of intentionally depriving civilians \u201cof access to food, medicines, medical equipment, energy and other necessities, with grave consequences for their rights to life, health, food and a decent standard of living\u201d.
\nQatari mediators presented Iran with a new draft deal on Sunday to end the war, but a senior Iranian official said Doha had only put forward unacceptable ideas that did not amount to an offer.
\nThe war\u2019s impact on global energy costs has also weighed on support for Republican candidates and hurt Trump\u2019s approval ratings ahead of the US midterm elections that decide control of Congress. Trump\u2019s Republican Party holds a narrow majority in both chambers of Congress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Trump denies peace talks washington US President Donald Trump said that Vice President JD Vance\u2019s outreach to Iran was about helping the country get medical supplies, after US media reported Vance had written to Tehran\u2019s top security official to revive peace talks. Tehran has received a letter from Vance, but it has not responded to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":575074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-575089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n