The White House Sees an Iranian Hard-Liner as the Best Hope for Peace

Foreign Policy · David Ignatius · 2026-10-30 14:10 UTC

The outreach is serious, but Mohsen Rezaei has built a career on defiance of the United States.

The outreach is serious, but Mohsen Rezaei has built a career on defiance of the United States.

As the risk of renewed conflict with Iran increases, Vice President JD Vance has messaged the top hard-line leader in Tehran saying that he’s ready to meet him personally to discuss a negotiated settlement to the war.

Vance sent a letter last week to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and former leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The letter and its intent were described to me by a U.S. official who’s familiar with the negotiations. The message was first disclosed by the Wall Street Journal.

Read the full story at Foreign Policy · All coverage of this story