Iran“Those Days Have Long Since Passed”: Trump Drops the Deal Talk and Sidelines Vance, the White House Leaves a Door Ajar, and Rezaei Promises “New Surprises”
Day 258 in one line: a day after his vice president was reported to be seeking a meeting with Tehran, the President said no deal was needed and told him to mind domestic affairs — while his own White House said talks were still possible.
"We Don’t Need a Deal With Iran"
Trump wrote on social media on Thursday: "We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed…We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!" In the same post he directed Vice President Vance to concentrate on domestic priorities; Middle East Eye described it as Trump sidelining Vance and telling him to focus on crime. The post came a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Vance was weighing face-to-face talks with Mohsen Rezaei and had Trump’s authorization to negotiate, and three days after Trump said the war was militarily effectively over.
A Door Left Ajar
The White House indicated that negotiations remained possible if Tehran presented acceptable terms, and the New York Post reported that Vance took part in an Oval Office meeting on Iran on Thursday morning with senior officials. Middle East Eye, which had earlier reported — citing Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin — that Qatar would host a Vance–Rezaei meeting, said the abrupt move may suggest a difference of opinion among Trump’s advisers; Axios had reported Vance spent the past two weeks personally involved in the indirect talks. In an interview with Hugh Hewitt, Trump said "We control the Gulf in terms of the Hormuz Strait" and that he would use military force without hesitation if Iran threatened American allies or vessels.
[Breitbart/NY Post] [Middle East Eye] [Weekly briefing/Axios]
Rezaei: "New Surprises"
Rezaei told a Lebanese television channel that Iran would not allow even a single particle of enriched nuclear material to leave the country and that any new US strikes would have consequences, and said the IRGC Aerospace Force was prepared to deliver "new surprises on the battlefield." ABC News, citing Iranian state television, specified that his November 11 threat against US bases, including those in Europe, was conditioned on a US attack on the Pickaxe Mountain tunnel complex near Natanz — a detail the Day 257 brief recorded more generally. Al Jazeera reported that Iran’s leadership was weighing whether to replace Ghalibaf with Rezaei as chief negotiator, and that the IRGC planned to raise missile output.
[Weekly briefing] [Breitbart] [GlobalSecurity/ABC/Al Jazeera]
Elsewhere
The Jerusalem Post reported that Netanyahu was to convene Israel’s Security Cabinet and that Gadi Eisenkot warned against a new Iran war. GlobalSecurity’s daily update said it located no Iranian missile or drone attack on a Gulf host state or Israel for November 11–12 and no major Hezbollah-Israel exchange. Oil slipped as Washington weighed new talks; OPEC said production was nearing pre-war levels.
Status Assessment
Tracker status holds at WAR RESUMED. In five days the public picture has moved from Qatar calling a settlement within reach, to Trump calling the war effectively over, to a Vance–Rezaei meeting being weighed, to Trump saying no deal is needed — with the White House still saying talks are possible. What has not moved: the blockade, the closed strait, Iran’s seven conditions and its refusal to give up its uranium. No ceasefire or agreement is in force.