• Asymmetric Economics. A modern U.S. supercarrier costs roughly $13 billion and carries thousands of sailors, while its escort destroyers rely on interceptor missiles (such as SM-2s and SM-6s) that cost $1 million to $4 million each. By contrast, Iranian one-way attack drones (like Shahed variants) and short-range missiles cost as little as $20,000 to $50,000.
• Munitions Depletion. Military assessments briefed to Vice President Vance warned that firing multimillion-dollar interceptors at mass-produced drones rapidly drains U.S. weapons stockpiles—including Patriot and naval air-defense interceptors—and strains the defense budget while leaving fewer reserves to deter threats in Europe or the Indo-Pacific.
• Vulnerability in Chokepoints. Operating massive naval assets near the Strait of Hormuz exposes high-value ships to saturation attacks and allows Iran to disrupt global oil shipping at a fraction of the cost required to defend against it.
“Vice President JD Vance is considering face-to-face talks with a top Iranian security official as he emerges as the lead negotiator with Iran, say U.S. and Middle East officials and people familiar with the negotiations, in an effort to end a war seen as a drag on the Republican Party.
In recent days, President Trump has told top aides and counterparts he's open to Vance restarting talks with Iran and has empowered him to negotiate, U.S. and Middle Eastern officials said. U.S. officials stressed that discussions about sending Vance to meet directly with Iranian officials remain preliminary.
Vance sent a letter in October to Iran's Mohsen Rezaei, the hard-line secretary of Iran's top security body, asking for a meeting. No date has been set, but the countries are talking through mediators and allies about what comes next.
A direct meeting between the vice president and top Iranian security officials would be unusual and show the lengths Vance is willing to go to try to end the war.
The vice president has taken a more active role in Iran diplomacy lately than special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who are also negotiating to end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, U.S. officials said.
Positioning himself as the primary interlocutor with Iran is politically risky for Vance, some of these officials said, as it potentially makes him the face of another round of peace talks that could end in failure if Iran refuses to make significant concessions. Alternatively, he could emerge as a victor who ended an unpopular conflict.
Trump in recent weeks has privately criticized the June memorandum of understanding that Vance helped negotiate and questioned whether it was a costly mistake, two officials said, arguing that it gave Iran critical time to regroup and rake in oil revenues before the U.S. imposed a naval blockade. A White House official denied that Trump had second thoughts about the MOU and said the negotiators had operated in good faith. A spokesman for Vance declined to comment.
Within the White House, Vance has also set himself apart by publicly blaming the war for Republicans' disastrous performance in the midterms. Trump said he understood Vance's position but would do it again.
Other cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, have defended the president's decision to go to war, saying Trump had no other option to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran denies seeking an atomic bomb, though it has a stockpile of highly enriched uranium. A White House official said only Trump knows what his next move will be on Iran.
Vance met with the Qatari prime minister on Monday morning, and the two later met with Trump and other White House officials. Trump called the meeting excellent. Doha has been considered as a possible venue for the next phase of negotiations if Vance and Iranian officials agree to meet, people familiar with the discussions said.
Iran's demands have complicated U.S. efforts to restart talks, with Iranian officials saying the midterm loss is an opportunity to drive a hard bargain.
Iranian officials want the U.S. to lift the blockade, release frozen assets and ease oil sanctions as a precondition for renewed talks, according to people familiar with their thinking.
"The Iranian demands are totally unrealistic. We expect that could change, and if it does, we'll be prepared for diplomacy," Rubio said on Tuesday.
Mediators have proposed immediate measures to build confidence between the two sides. They include the U.S. pulling back its aircraft carriers far enough to reduce the risk of major strikes and easing the blockade on Iranian ports, Middle East officials said.
In exchange, Iran would allow 25 tankers to cross the Strait of Hormuz, according to the officials.
Iranian diplomats are privately expressing doubt that a deal is within reach. They are concerned Trump may still attack to vindicate his previous decision to go to war and have noted that previous talks were halted by Israeli and U.S. strikes.
Some Middle East mediators also remain skeptical that a deal can be reached in the coming days, citing more aggressive messages relayed to them via officials from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Other Middle East officials worry that Ahmed Vahidi, the hard-line commander in chief of the Guard, holds more sway than the less hawkish Rezaei and could undermine any talks with the U.S.
Rezaei in recent days escalated his own rhetoric as rumors of a possible meeting with Vance gained momentum. He dismissed any negotiations as "imaginary talks" and insisted that Iran "won't remove even a single particle of enriched nuclear material from the country."
Those remarks may help him maintain his position, as conciliatory moves from Vance's interlocutor during talks in Islamabad -- parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf -- led to Ghalibaf being sidelined.
Trump threatened strikes again on Monday afternoon from the White House, saying the U.S. was maintaining the status quo on the blockade but could still change course. "Iran, I hope we're going to be able to make a deal with them," Trump said, before adding that the U.S. was moving another aircraft carrier into the region and was "loaded up to the gills" if necessary.” [1]
1. U.S. News: Vance Weighs Direct Talks With Iran Hardliner --- In seeking new push to bring end to war, vice president risks political backlash. Gramer, Robbie; Faucon, Benoit; Andrews, Natalie. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 12 Nov 2026: A6.
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