In a stunning turn of events, US Vice President JD Vance told the media outlet Unherd on Thursday that CENTCOM officials will meet with Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials in Doha, Qatar, to resolve conflicts between the sides.
“One of the things we wanted to come out with,” he tells me, was a “channel on the Iranian side” for reducing conflict.
“Which we did. They were like, ‘OK, fine, we’ll send somebody from the IRGC to go hang out in Doha with somebody from CENTCOM,’ and that’s how we’re going to settle a lot of these disputes,” Vance told Unherd.
The statement might cause whiplash for observers who know that seemingly only moments ago, CENTCOM was part of a bombing campaign with Israel in which IRGC officials all over Iran, killing them in large numbers, likely hundreds, if not in the thousands.
Although Israel took the lead for assassinating senior IRGC officials, it is likely that CENTCOM had a significant hand in this as well.
CENTCOM, IRGC officials to hold direct talks in Qatar
Further, US law currently defines the IRGC as a terror group, leaving the legality of such meetings in a gray area.
In fact, usually when the US meets with enemy countries, especially those connected to intelligence, the CIA often takes the lead, because it can do so covertly and is less bound by standard laws and transparency considerations than the US military.
It was unclear why Vance did not mention the CIA.
On the other hand, if successful, some observers would say that building trust between military officials from both sides is more likely to help with avoiding future conflict than mere political officials talking to each other.
CENTCOM chief Gen. Brad Cooper has been involved in some past negotiating rounds with Iran, but publicly at least, the Iranian officials involved in those talks were civilian diplomats.
The Jerusalem Post is seeking comment from the Vice President’s Office and the CIA.
