Vance: We believe Iran’s supreme leader is alive but ‘detached’ – blames Tehran for the collapse of the ceasefire deal

US Vice President JD Vance has said Washington believes Iran’s supreme leader is still alive, but is not involved in the country’s day-to-day affairs. In an interview with journalist Vince Coglianese, as Al Jazeera reports, Vance admitted he does not know for sure. “We think he’s alive. We don’t know, of course,” he said. “I’ve never seen him. I haven’t seen him on camera lately. The best evidence we have suggests he’s alive.”

Asked who is in charge inside Iran, Vance described the Iranian leadership system as “very confused”. “I can give you an answer. It would at best be a guess, because you have a bunch of different groupings. You have the hard line, you have the conservatives, you have the moderates, you have the clerics, and all these people are involved in the decision-making process,” the US vice president said. “And then of course you have the new supreme leader, who is very detached. He’s not involved day to day; he doesn’t go on Sunday shows in America to talk about these negotiations.”

Vance directly blamed Iranian leaders for the collapse of the memorandum of understanding signed in June, saying they “blew it up” by choosing to attack merchant ships in regional waters. “I think the Iranians understand they blew it up, that they signed a deal with us, we had a ceasefire, energy prices had fallen and we had the opportunity … that if the Iranians behaved well, they would benefit greatly from a better relationship with the United States,” he said. “But what happened? They didn’t behave well. They started shooting at merchant ships.”

The statements come as the US and Iran continue indirect talks through intermediaries to end the seven-month war, with Tehran awaiting Washington’s response to the new proposal for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.