Vice President J.D. Vance is reported to have been leading efforts from behind the scenes to reach a new agreement with Iran. Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, citing “two sources with knowledge of the matter,” reported in Axios on Friday night that Vance has spent the past two weeks personally involved in indirect talks with Iran aimed at reaching a new ceasefire and resuming nuclear negotiations.

U.S. officials and regional sources say that for now Trump is willing to let diplomatic efforts play out and wants to see if any kind of deal is possible, Ravid reports further. “We’re talking to them,” Trump told reporters on Friday, when asked what his message to Iran was.

At the same time, Bloomberg News cited an unnamed diplomat who claimed that the U.S. and Iran are moving closer to a potential breakthrough in efforts to end the war, “with Tehran showing a willingness to discuss issues related to its nuclear program that were previously off the table.” Iran is studying proposals related to its atomic activities that were presented by chief mediator Qatar, according to the unnamed diplomat.

There is no indication in the public statements of Iranian officials, however, of a willingness to discuss Iran’s nuclear program before the U.S. meets Tehran’s seven conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Armed Forces have control over the Strait of Hormuz, which will remain closed until the United States accepts Tehran’s conditions, Army spokesperson Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia reportedly said on Nov. 6.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi did not even mention the nuclear issue in a social media posting on the diplomacy he’s been engaged in this week. “Over the past 48 hours, in separate telephone conversations with 12 of my counterparts—from Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Cyprus, Turkey, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Iraq, and Pakistan—we reviewed and exchanged views on the latest regional and international developments, as well as the consequences of the escalatory actions taken by the United States and the Zionist regime,” he said. He stressed “the necessity of respecting the national sovereignty of states, halting aggression and threats, avoiding destructive foreign interference, and the responsibility of regional nations to prevent the spread of insecurity.”

Ali Bagheri, the deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), who has been in both Beijing and Moscow this past week, stressed that the U.S. has consistently violated commitments over the past year and a half, emphasizing that Iran has the right not to rely on America’s paper commitments before entering a new phase of diplomacy. “Iran needs to see the US’s practical actions, and [then] the groundwork for opening a new chapter would be prepared,” Ali Bagheri emphasized.