US Vice President Vance Contacts Powerful Iranian Hardliner to Restart Peace Talks

The significance lies less in the fact of outreach than in the choice of channel: routing diplomacy through a hardliner rather than a moderate signals Washington is testing whether Tehran's real power centers will engage directly. That carries weight for anyone tracking Gulf risk and energy markets, since the viability of any talks hinges on whether this figure can deliver rather than merely listen. The item gives no read on the response, so whether the contact produces a reciprocal signal — or stays a one-way gesture — is the open question worth watching.