Trump Tells Vance to Shift Focus       11/13 06:10

   President Donald Trump on Thursday directed Vice President JD Vance to shift 
his focus away from the Iran war and instead devote himself to fighting what 
the president says is corruption and crime in Democratic-controlled cities and 
states.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump on Thursday directed Vice 
President JD Vance to shift his focus away from the Iran war and instead devote 
himself to fighting what the president says is corruption and crime in 
Democratic-controlled cities and states.

   Vance, who served as the lead negotiator for a short-lived truce in the 
eight-month old war, has been blunt in blaming the war -- and the economic 
reverberations it has caused -- for Republicans' sweeping losses in last week's 
midterm elections in the United States.

   But Trump brusquely told the vice president in a social media post Thursday 
to shift his energies away from the Iran war to what he argues is a more 
pressing -- and perhaps more politically salient -- issue after Republicans 
were trounced at the polls.

   "We don't need a deal with Iran," Trump said in the post. "Those days have 
long since passed. We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and 
we've got their Strait!"

   Trump earlier this week said he believed the war "militarily is effectively 
over," and appeared to double down on that message by pointedly directing Vance 
"to focus his complete and total attention" on his anti-fraud campaign.

   Democrats have promised intense oversight of Trump's business dealings and 
other targets when they take control of Congress in January after voters 
identified corruption as one of their top concerns. Trump's post about Vance 
and the Iran war was, in part, responding to a flurry of reports about 
Democrats' plans.

   But it also came after The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday evening 
that Vance was weighing engaging in a new round of direct talks with a senior 
Iranian official.

   The vice president's office did not respond to a request for comment.

   The White House press office, in an email, responded to a query by 
highlighting that Trump made clear in his post that he sees no need to 
negotiate with Iran.

   Vance blamed Trump's Iran war for midterm losses 

   Vance, who had long advocated for restraint in U.S. military interventions 
overseas, was lukewarm in his defense of the conflict after Trump launched it 
and became the face of an unsuccessful attempt to end the fighting when he 
headed up negotiations over the summer.

   Following the Nov. 3 losses, Vance wrote a lengthy post on X in which he 
didn't mince words about the political impact of the conflict.

   "If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 
6 years was worth it, then do so," Vance said. "Argue it was a worthwhile cost 
to pay. Agree or disagree, that's at least honest."

   The vice president is considering whether to launch a 2028 run for the White 
House. Voter dissatisfaction with Trump's handling of the war could weigh down 
those ambitions.

   The president has yet to endorse a successor for the 2028 race. In a CBS "60 
Minutes" interview that aired Sunday, the president said he "may or may not get 
involved" in offering an endorsement.

   Trump earlier this week said that he believed that mediation efforts led by 
Qatar are making progress and that it was unlikely he would need to make good 
on earlier threats to restart the full-scale bombardment of Iran after he was 
past the midterm elections.

   The president said in an interview on "The Hugh Hewitt Show" on Thursday 
that he stood ready to restart strikes if necessary. "If something doesn't work 
out, I would not hesitate," he said.

   Separately, in an interview with commentator Stephen A. Smith, Trump 
suggested he hasn't ruled out carrying out strikes on Iran's Pickaxe Mountain, 
a facility linked to Iran's nuclear program, if the U.S. detects signs of 
activity at the facility.

   Waters around Iran remain treacherous 

   Oil shipments coming out of the Strait of Hormuz have recovered to near 
prewar levels after Iran effectively choked the critical waterway for months, 
stemming the flow of crude and energy resources from its Persian Gulf neighbors.

   But international tankers now are relying on U.S. Navy escorts to get the 
oil out of the strait. The U.S. military has recently carried out limited 
strikes on Iran, including against its air defenses.

   And while crude and liquefied natural gas exports from the Gulf are 
climbing, there's also been an uptick in attacks on ships trying to traverse 
the waterway.

   The British military on Thursday reported at least two tankers were struck 
by projectiles in recent days while traversing contested waters near Iran.

   The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, an agency that monitors 
maritime safety, said one of the tankers was struck Wednesday in the Strait of 
Hormuz, northwest of Ras al-Khaimah. The agency reported the crew evacuated 
safely and no casualties were reported.

   In another incident from Tuesday, the UKMTO said a tanker was struck by a 
projectile in the Persian Gulf. Multiple people were taken ashore for medical 
assistance while the remaining crew was safe and accounted for, the agency said.

   Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week he pressed his Group of Seven 
counterparts during talks in Paris to "step up" and help protect ships from 
Iranian attacks but acknowledged making no headway on the issue.

   At the same time, a Saudi-led coalition is mired in fighting with 
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. That fighting has made it precarious to 
transport oil and other goods through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects 
the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

   Qalibaf claims the U.S. wants Russia to intervene 

   Meanwhile, Iran's chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher 
Qalibaf, said in an interview that the United States has asked for Russian 
President Vladimir Putin to facilitate direct negotiations between the U.S. and 
Iran.

   "It was the Americans who, during a visit to Moscow, spoke with Mr. Putin 
and asked him to speak with Iran so that, in any case, Iran would agree to 
speak directly with them," Qalibaf told Al Jazeera in the interview. "Look, 
Russia and Mr. Putin, the Russian president, are friends of ours. We have 
strategic relations with Russia. We are very close, and we hold Mr. Putin in 
particularly high regard."

   The White House did not directly respond to a query about whether the U.S. 
has asked Putin to facilitate talks with Iran.

   Qalibaf said the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Maj. 
Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, traveled to Russia and briefed Putin on details of the 
negotiations. "He informed him that we had conveyed our positions, which 
represent the legitimate rights and rightful demands of our people, to the 
Americans," he said, adding that it is up to the U.S. side to respond.

   "It is up to them to decide. If they are truly telling the truth and are 
sincere about negotiations, then they should respond and begin the process," 
Qalibaf said. "But if they want to pursue the path of war, then naturally, we 
are fully prepared for that as well."