The Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, has revealed that Washington and Tehran have agreed to establish a direct and military communication channel in Doha (Qatar) between the US Central Command (CENTCOM) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran (IRGC). This is an unprecedented effort to reduce the risk of tensions, after the recent war between both nations, which sees two absolute archenemies at the same table.
We are talking about an unusual and historical effect of rapprochement, unthinkable until now, which Israel views with astonishment. It is very possible that not even in the ayatollahs’ best dreams did this open line enter with someone who has been systematically killing their generals, beheading what is the most powerful branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, whose mission is to protect the theocratic system and the continuity of the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
The surprising announcement was made by the US number two during an interview with the British media UnStoveaboard Air Force Two, after the closing of marathon negotiations held last weekend at the Bürgenstock complex, near Lake Lucerne (Switzerland). These talks were mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, and included senior Iranian officials, such as the speaker of parliament and main negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and the Minister of Assembly, Abbas Araghchi.
“One of the objectives we wanted to achieve was a channel with the Iranian side to reduce the conflict, and we achieved it,” Vance told the aforementioned media. “They said, ‘Okay, well, we’ll send someone from the Revolutionary Guard to hang out in Doha with someone from CENTCOM,’ and that’s how we’re going to resolve a lot of these disputes.”
The security channel represents an unprecedented milestone, given that US law classifies Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. So clear and contradictory. Typically, Washington delegates confidential contacts with enemy intelligence agencies to the CIA, in order to operate covertly, or to the State Department once the talks become public, the Israeli newspaper recalls. Haaretz. However, on this occasion, the formal inclusion of the direct military establishment through CENTCOM seeks to generate mutual trust to prevent operational frictions from leading to open confrontation.
The Revolutionary Guard has been the object of significant attacks by the US in recent years, especially in locations friendly to Tehran, such as Bashar el Assad’s Syria. His broadsides have robbed him of some powerful generals. Above all, last April, the assassination in Iran of the group’s Intelligence chief, Majid Khadami, and further back, Qasem Soleimani, in January 2020 stands out; He was responsible for the Quds Force, a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard specialized in asymmetric warfare and military intelligence operations. “The world’s number one terrorist,” Donald Trump called him then.
A “radically different” pact than the Obama era
The framework for these talks is based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reached last week. Faced with criticism that compares this approach with the Joint Common Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed under the administration of Democrat Barack Obama in 2015, Vice President Vance insisted that the current document is much more generic and preliminary.
According to President Donald Trump’s deputy, the plan focuses primarily on the cessation of fighting, the total reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in the face of maritime tensions and the viability of a subsequent nuclear agreement. The vice president stated in the same interview that Tehran’s current position contemplates “radically different” conditions, which include a much stricter inspection regime by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the total “elimination” of Iran’s reserves of enriched uranium. However, he cautiously acknowledged that the big unknown lies in determining whether this “rhetorical flexibility” will translate into facts.
What about the sanctions? And with Lebanon?
The provisional pact has also already caused public friction over the destination of blocked funds that will be returned to Iran as part of sanctions relief. While the White House has stated that these released assets must be obligatorily spent within the US market to benefit the US economy, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, flatly denied that version.
Through a publication on the social network
Iran’s role in the de-escalation mechanisms in Lebanon has also unleashed discontent in Israel, a country that defends that Tehran should not have any prerogative over the situation in Beirut. To counteract discontent, the State Department – led by Marco Rubio – outlined the relaunch of a parallel deconfliction channel, in which Israeli and Lebanese military officers coordinate in real time with CENTCOM to maintain the truce in southern Lebanon.
At the same time, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, concluded a tour of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with stops in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Bahrain, aimed at strengthening Washington’s security commitment in the region. During the summit of Gulf foreign ministers in Manama, the states of the peninsula expressed conditional support for the Anglo-American Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, but marked clear distances from Tehran’s demands.
In a lengthy joint statement, the heads of Gulf diplomacy stressed that any lasting peace in the Middle East requires neutralizing all Iranian threats, including its ballistic missile program, the use of drones and the financing of allied militias. Likewise, they warned that all trade or economic investment with Tehran will be “reversible” and will be subject to Iran strictly complying with the agreement and ceasing its destabilizing behavior.
The Gulf countries also frontally rejected Iran’s claim to link the future of general security negotiations to the future of the Lebanese front, demanding instead the complete disarmament of all non-state actors in Lebanon, in explicit reference to Hezbollah.
Al Jazeera reports that between Wednesday and Thursday, up to 19 Lebanese were killed by Israeli strikes. The Health Emergency Operations Center, dependent on the aforementioned ministry, indicated in its note that the total accumulated balance after almost four months of conflict amounts to 4,230 people who died and 12,179 those who were injured.
Hezbollah supporters listen to the story participate in an event for the Day of Ashura, in front of a destroyed building in the south of Beirut, Lebanon, on June 26, 2026.
New economic incentives and maritime navigation
Despite strong political warnings, JD Vance indicated that the diplomatic framework is opening unprecedented commercial channels between Iran and its traditionally rival neighbors. The vice president cited the case of the United Arab Emirates – which he defined as the most pro-Israel nation in the Gulf -, pointing out that Emirati emissaries maintain direct contacts with delegates of the Iranian Guard to evaluate economic incentives and the structural reforms that Iran would require to become a country suitable for foreign investment. According to experts in the region, this shift responds to the local perception that strengthening ties with Tehran is vital in the face of doubts about Washington’s long-term reliability as a security partner.
On the other hand, the final declaration of the Gulf summit ratified the urgency of maintaining unconditional free transit through the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with international law, rejecting the collection of any type of toll or customs tariff in the navigation channel. Previously, the Foreign Minister of Oman, Badr Albusaidi, had clarified that his country will not impose transit taxes and confirmed the creation of an additional maritime corridor to facilitate the evacuation of merchant ships trapped by the crisis.
This morning, Iran insisted that ships transiting the strait must follow the routes established by them, after a cargo ship was attacked yesterday in the strategic passage near the coast of Oman by an unknown projectile. “The PGSA warns that the navigation of vessels outside designated routes is not covered by the Safe Transit Guarantee, insurance or responsibilities derived from them,” the Persian Strait Gulf Authority (PGSA), an organization created by Iran to manage transit through the Strait of Hormuz, said in a message on X. “Any consequences arising from an unauthorized tour will be the exclusive responsibility of the shipowner, the charterer and the captain of the vessel,” the tweet added.
The new warning comes after a Singapore-flagged freighter was attacked yesterday Thursday off the coast of Oman without leaving any victims, in an attack reported by the American media. The Wall Street Journal blamed the Islamic Republic, citing two senior Washington officials.
