Vance weighs meeting Iran's security chief Rezaei as Trump faults June deal

US Vice President JD Vance is considering a direct, face-to-face meeting with Mohsen Rezaei, who heads Iran's Supreme National Security Council, as part of an effort to end the war, according to a Wall Street Journal report relayed on Wednesday by several Israeli outlets. Israel Hayom reported that the American newspaper based its account on officials from the United States and the Middle East, none of whom were named.

Rezaei himself appeared to rule out such an encounter. The Times of Israel noted that earlier the same day, the Iranian official said he had no plans to meet Vance. The two accounts therefore stand side by side: American and regional officials describe a meeting under consideration, while the Iranian side has publicly said none is planned.

Vance moves to the centre of Iran diplomacy

According to the Journal's sourcing as summarised by The Times of Israel, US officials say Vance now holds the leading role in Washington's diplomatic push for an agreement with Iran, overshadowing Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the two White House envoys who had been associated with the file. Ynet, the news site of the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth, reported that President Donald Trump is open to his deputy running the talks and has given him authority to manage the negotiations.

A vice president personally conducting talks with a senior Iranian official would be an unusual level of engagement. The reports do not say where or when any meeting might take place, or whether intermediaries are involved in arranging it.

Who is Mohsen Rezaei

Rezaei is identified in the reports as the top official of the Supreme National Security Council, the body in Iran's system that coordinates defence and security policy. The Times of Israel gives his title as secretary-general, while Israel Hayom calls him secretary; both refer to the same post. Ynet described him as a hawkish senior figure and said his rhetoric has shifted recently, which the site presented as an attempt to protect his standing at home.

Concern about a possible spoiler

Ynet also reported that senior officials in the Middle East are worried that Vahidi, whom the site identified as commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, will try to block any deal that emerges. The Revolutionary Guards, known in Hebrew reporting as Mishmarot HaMahapecha, are Iran's ideological military force, separate from the regular army. Ynet did not detail what steps he might take or what evidence underlies the officials' concern.

Trump's view of the June memorandum

The reports also point to tension inside the administration over past diplomacy. Two US officials told the Journal that Trump has privately criticised the memorandum of understanding reached with Iran in June, a document Vance helped negotiate. According to those officials, as cited by The Times of Israel, the president has argued that it was a mistake because it let Iran recover and resume earning oil revenue.

On the question of pressure, two US officials said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Stephen Miller, described in the report as White House chief of staff, favour keeping the blockade on Iran in place until Tehran concedes. The reports do not describe the terms of that blockade or how Vance views it.

How this fits together

Taken as a whole, the picture drawn by the reports is of a vice president who has gained authority over the Iran file, a president who is critical of an earlier agreement his deputy worked on, and senior officials who back continued economic pressure. All three Israeli outlets attribute the core claims to the Wall Street Journal and its unnamed sources rather than to their own reporting.

What the reports do not say

• There is no on-the-record response from the White House or from Vance's office to the Journal's account.
• The reports give no timing, venue or agenda for any possible meeting, and Rezaei has said none is planned.
• Ynet does not set out the basis for the concern that the Revolutionary Guards commander would act to undermine a deal.
• It is not reported whether Trump's private criticism of the June memorandum affects his support for a Vance-led channel.