Vice President JD Vance discussed the United States' stance on Iran and the current state of US-Iran negotiations during a press conference on Monday night with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
After addressing the recently signed nuclear deal between the US and Armenia, the floor was opened for questions, and the issue of Iran was raised.
When asked if the US would permit any limited uranium enrichment by Iran, Vance responded, “I’ll let the president speak to exactly where he wants to set the line of negotiation. He typically discusses that privately, as he believes announcing his intentions publicly could constrain him in private discussions.”
He continued, “I think the president is going to preserve decisional space for himself and that means not revealing too many of his cards publicly.”
Vance then affirmed that the Islamic Republic's violent crackdown on protesters played a role in the negotiations.
"As the president has publicly stated, human rights have been very much a part of the negotiations we've had," he said. “The crackdown was, of course, brutally violent, and as the president and the entire administration have said, we stand with the people of Iran."
'We stand with the people of Iran'
“We stand with the right of peaceful protest across the world and certainly, people who want to exercise that right in Iran.”
Negotiations are still ongoing following last Friday's meeting between the US and Iranian delegations in Oman. During this meeting, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and US Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and other senior Iranian officials.
Sources described the initial meeting as a good start, which primarily focused on the negotiation process rather than the key issues at stake.
The Americans reportedly expect the Iranians to come prepared to offer concessions on the nuclear issue and other matters for the next meeting.
On Sunday, Araghchi stated that a complete halt to uranium enrichment is absolutely unacceptable to Iran. “The discussions should focus on scenarios in which uranium enrichment continues, alongside assurances that the enrichment is solely for peaceful purposes,” he said.
Amichai Stein and Fraidy Moser contributed to this report.