U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that Washington no longer needs a deal with Iran and directed Vice-President JD Vance to turn his attention to domestic issues, stepping back from efforts to restart negotiations over the war, The Guardian reported.

In a social media post, Trump instructed Vance to focus his “complete and total attention” on what the president alleged was corruption and crime in Democratic-run cities and states. Vance had reportedly been working through intermediaries to revive talks with Tehran.

“We don’t need a deal with Iran,” Trump wrote. “Those days have long since passed.” He also claimed the United States held hundreds of billions of dollars in Iranian money and controlled the Strait of Hormuz.

The announcement leaves the conflict without a negotiated settlement. According to The Guardian, the United States has maintained a blockade of Iranian ports while largely reopening the strait to shipping, including crude oil shipments. Neither side has resumed the scale of attacks seen earlier in the war: the U.S. has not conducted massive strikes against Iran for several months, and Iran has not launched ballistic missile barrages against American bases and regional allies.

The war began in February with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. Iran responded by closing access to the strait, driving up fuel costs worldwide, the newspaper reported.

Trump had already described the war as “effectively over” last week. At a White House news conference following a meeting with Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, he said further military action did not appear necessary, though U.S. forces remained ready. He also said Gulf leaders had urged him not to resume the war.

The shift sidelines Vance after months of diplomatic involvement. He led a U.S. delegation to Islamabad in April. The Guardian, citing Axios, reported that Vance had recently been speaking almost daily with Qatari and Pakistani mediators and had sent an Iranian security official a letter seeking renewed direct negotiations.

Vance last week blamed the war for Republican losses in the midterm elections. Trump has since defended launching the conflict, acknowledging its effect on fuel prices while maintaining that military action was necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Sources