WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday directed Vice President JD Vance to shift his focus away from the Iran war and instead devote himself to fighting what the president says is corruption and crime in Democratic-controlled cities and states. Vance, who served as the lead negotiator for a short-lived truce in the eight-month old war, has been blunt in blaming the war — and the economic reverberations it has caused — for Republicans’ sweeping losses in last week’s midterm elections in the United States. But Trump brusquely told the vice president in a social media post on Thursday to shift his energies away from the Iran war to what he argues is a more pressing — and perhaps more politically salient — issue after Republicans were trounced at the polls. “We don’t need a deal with Iran,” Trump said in the post. “Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait!” Trump earlier this week said that he believed the war “militarily is effectively over,” and appeared to double down on that message by pointedly directing Vance “to focus his complete and total attention” on his anti-fraud campaign. Democrats have promised intense oversight of Trump’s business dealings and other targets when they take control of Congress in January after voters identified corruption as one of their top concerns. Trump’s post about Vance and the Iran war was, in part, responding to a flurry of reports about Democrats’ plans. But it also came after The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday evening that Vance was weighing engaging in a new round of direct talks with a senior Iranian official. The vice president’s office did not respond to a request for comment. The White House press office, in an email, responded to a query by highlighting that Trump made clear in his post that he sees no need to negotiate with Iran. Vance blamed Trump’s Iran war for midterm losses Vance, who had long advocated for restraint in U.S. military interventions overseas, was lukewarm in his defense of the conflict after Trump launched it and became the face of an unsuccessful attempt to end the fighting when he headed up negotiations over the summer. Following the Nov. 3 losses, Vance wrote a lengthy post on X in which he didn’t mince words about the political impact of the conflict. “If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so,” Vance said. “Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.” The vice president is considering whether to launch a 2028 run for the White House. Voter dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of the war could weigh down those ambitions. The president has yet to endorse a successor for the 2028 race. In a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday, the president said he “may or may not get involved” in offering an endorsement. Trump earlier this week said that he believed that mediation efforts led by Qatar are making progress and that it was unlikely he would need to make good on earlier threats to restart the full-scale bombardment of Iran after he was past the midterm elections. Waters around Iran remain treacherous Oil shipments coming out of the Strait of Hormuz have recovered to near prewar levels after Iran effectively choked the critical waterway for months, stemming the flow of crude and energy resources from its Persian Gulf neighbors. But international tankers now are relying on U.S. Navy escorts to get the oil out of the strait. The U.S. military has recently carried out limited strikes on Iran, including against its air defenses. And while crude and liquefied natural gas exports from the Gulf are climbing, there’s also been an uptick in attacks on ships trying to traverse the waterway. The British military on Thursday reported at least two tankers were struck by projectiles in recent days while traversing contested waters near Iran. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, an agency that monitors maritime safety, said one of the tankers was struck Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, northwest of Ras al-Khaimah. The agency reported the crew evacuated safely and no casualties were reported. In another incident from Tuesday, the UKMTO said a tanker was struck by a projectile in the Persian Gulf. Multiple people were taken ashore for medical assistance while the remaining crew was safe and accounted for, the agency said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week he pressed his Group of Seven counterparts during talks in Paris to “step up” and help protect ships from Iranian attacks but acknowledged making no headway on the issue. At the same time, a Saudi-led coalition is mired in fighting with Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. That fighting has made it precarious to transport oil and other goods through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Qalibaf claims the U.S. wants Russia to intervene Meanwhile, Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said in an interview that the United States has asked for Russian President Vladimir Putin to facilitate direct negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. “It was the Americans who, during a visit to Moscow, spoke with Mr. Putin and asked him to speak with Iran so that, in any case, Iran would agree to speak directly with them,” Qalibaf told Al Jazeera in the interview. “Look, Russia and Mr. Putin, the Russian president, are friends of ours. We have strategic relations with Russia. We are very close, and we hold Mr. Putin in particularly high regard.” The White House did not directly respond to a query about whether the U.S. has asked Putin to facilitate talks with Iran. Qalibaf said the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, traveled to Russia and briefed Putin on details of the negotiations. “He informed him that we had conveyed our positions, which represent the legitimate rights and rightful demands of our people, to the Americans,” he said, adding that it is up to the U.S. side to respond. “It is up to them to decide. If they are truly telling the truth and are sincere about negotiations, then they should respond and begin the process,” Qalibaf said. “But if they want to pursue the path of war, then naturally, we are fully prepared for that as well.” ___ AP writers Michelle L. Price in Washington and Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed reporting. Aamer Madhani, The Associated Press
