Vance Says Iran Must Reduce Enrichment to End War

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Iran must make a meaningful reduction in its nuclear-enrichment capacity for Washington to agree to an arrangement ending the seven-month war, setting out a concrete concession he said would be required rather than promises of future reductions. In an interview conducted Monday and reported October 6, Vance said the United States was seeking action on Iran’s enrichment capacity as a basic condition for demonstrating that Tehran would not build a nuclear weapon. He did not specify how large a reduction Washington would consider meaningful. The demand, as described by Vance, leaves the precise terms of a possible agreement unsettled. Vance also said the U.S. government was unsure how Iran’s political system makes decisions and how much authority President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have in negotiations. He said Washington was in talks with both officials but could not determine how much power they held within Iran’s governing structure. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei disputed that assessment. Speaking at a weekly press conference, he said U.S.