How Vance is navigating peace talks with Iran — and his own political future | CNN Politics

Vice President JD Vance spent the last month largely out of the limelight as the US waged a war with Iran that he’d privately worried would spiral out of control. Yet with President Donald Trump now eager to broker an end to the conflict, he’s emerged as a central player with a major public role. Vance traveled to Pakistan on Saturday to helm talks aimed at solidifying the fragile truce between the US and Iran — and in the process, elevate himself as the key peacemaker within an administration that has devoted its last several weeks to war. It’s a daunting mission that carries little guarantee of success. The two sides are far apart and still trading barbs, offering few signs that tensions have substantially eased in the hours since Tuesday’s abrupt ceasefire announcement. But for Vance, a prominent critic of foreign wars who harbored reservations from the start about striking Iran, the chance to negotiate a lasting deal is one he’s spent weeks working toward behind the scenes, multiple people familiar with the matter said. And as he mulls a future presidential bid, it will offer the vice president perhaps his best opening yet to emerge in a strengthened position from a