- JD Vance Spox denies report pushing diplomacy regarding Iran attacks.
- Iran says nuclear talks with the United States continue despite rising tensions.
- Iranians use Starlink to avoid nationwide internet blackout.
WASHINGTON: Some senior advisers in President Donald Trump's administration, led by Vice President JD Vance, are urging Trump to try diplomacy before attacking Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing US officials.
The White House was weighing an offer from Tehran for talks on its nuclear program as Trump appeared to consider authorizing military action against Iran.
A spokesman for Vance said the Journal's report was not accurate.
“Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Rubio together are presenting a set of options to the president, ranging from a diplomatic approach to military action,” said William Martin, Vance's communications director. “They are presenting those options without bias or favor.”
The development came a day after Tehran said it would keep communication channels open with Washington as US President Donald Trump considered how to respond to Iran's response to nationwide protests.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran was studying ideas proposed by Washington, although they were “incompatible” with US threats.
“Communications between (U.S. Special Envoy Steve) Witkoff and I continued before and after the protests and continue,” he said. Al Jazeera.
Adding to threats of military action, Trump announced Monday night that any country that does business with Iran, a major oil producer, will face a new 25% tariff on its exports to the United States.
“This Order is final and conclusive,” Trump said in a social media post, without providing further details about the legal authority he would use to impose the tariffs, or whether they would target all of Iran's trading partners.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York declined to comment on Trump's tariff announcement. Iran, already under heavy US sanctions, exports much of its oil to China, with Turkiye, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and India among its other major trading partners.
Meanwhile, some Iranians are still using Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service despite a nationwide communications blackout, three people inside the country said, the latest example of Starlink being used to counter internet outages in geopolitical hotspots.
But Starlink, which broadcasts its service directly from thousands of low-Earth orbit satellites, is still operating in some places in Iran, despite being banned by authorities there, said three people who use Starlink in the country. Reuters. One of them, in western Iran, said it knew dozens of people using Starlink and that users in border towns and cities were largely unaffected.
Alp Toker, founder of internet monitoring group NetBlocks, said people in the region told him there is still some access to Starlink in Iran, although service appears reduced.
“It's irregular, but it's still there,” he said.
