Vice President JD Vance is reportedly being considered to spearhead a potential second round of peace negotiations with Iran. This development comes on the heels of earlier discussions aimed at reaching a peace agreement during a two-week ceasefire, which concluded without a resolution.

Over the past weekend, Vance engaged with Iranian officials, attempting to finalize a peace deal. However, the talks stalled when Iranian representatives insisted on maintaining the right to enrich uranium for two decades, a point that President Donald Trump highlighted as a stumbling block.

Despite the impasse, Vance, along with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, has continued to interact with Iranian officials and their intermediaries. Their efforts aim to keep the dialogue open, as reported by CNN.

White House insiders are now contemplating the logistics of a possible follow-up meeting. Although discussions are ongoing, no concrete plans have been set, according to a U.S. official who spoke to CNN.

Meanwhile, President Trump hinted to the New York Post that developments could unfold within the next couple of days in Pakistan, where the initial round of peace talks took place. This suggests a glimmer of hope for further diplomatic engagement between the U.S. and Iran.

But President Trump had earlier told the New York Post that ‘something could be happening’ over the next two days in Pakistan, where both US and Iranian officials met for the first round of peace talks. 

He is now said to be weighing three options to force Iran back to the negotiating table, including holding off on direct military strikes while maintaining a significant US military presence in the region.

His other options involve limited military action, such as targeted strikes on the regime’s nuclear, ballistic missile, and energy facilities.

The final option is a maximalist strategy aimed at overthrowing the regime by carrying out attacks against senior Iranian leadership. 

Vice President JD Vance is being tapped to lead a potential second round peace talks with Iranian officials

Vance has been engaging with Iranians and their intermediaries – along with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner – since the negotiations failed on Saturday

US and Iranian officials had agreed to a two-week ceasefire. Workers are pictured here rebuilding a wall at the site of a damaged residential building in Tehran on Tuesday

However, the president appears reluctant to restart a full bombing campaign, wary that it would further inflame tensions in the region, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Sources say the escalation risks widening the war across the Middle East, even as economic strain rises in the US amid President Trump’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – a narrow waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.

Since the start of the war, US gas prices have been above $4 nationwide and global oil prices have been past $100 a barrel.

Moreover, US wholesale prices surged last month as the war drove up the cost of energy.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that its producer price index – which measures inflation before it hits consumers – rose 0.5 percent from February and four percent from March 2025.

The situation may now grow even more futile, as Saudi Arabia has warned Trump that Iran may shut down the Middle East’s remaining oil routes in retaliation for his naval blockade.

Riyadh fears Tehran could deploy its Houthi proxy in Yemen to disrupt the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a critical artery carrying 10 percent of global trade between Asia and European markets via the Suez Canal.

After negotiations failed, Trump organized a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz (pictured in March), a narrow waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes

Since the start of the war, US gas prices have been above $4 nationwide and global oil prices have been past $100 a barrel

Trump is now facing mounting pressure from Riyadh to lift the Hormuz blockade and return to negotiations with Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, warned on April 5 that Iran ‘views Bab al-Mandeb as it does Hormuz.’

If Washington ‘dares to repeat its foolish mistakes, it will soon realize that the flow of global energy and trade can be disrupted with a single move,’ he added.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, also warned Tehran could throttle the Bab al-Mandeb, Arabic for ‘Gate of Tears,’ a stretch notorious for its treacherous navigation.

‘What share of global oil, gas, wheat, rice, and fertilizer shipments transits the Bab al-Mandeb Strait?’ he asked on April 3. ‘Which countries and companies account for the highest transit volumes through the strait?’