Update(1315): The American side is keeping up the illusion of progress on Iran talks, even as Tehran has once again on Wednesday confirmed no direct meeting has taken in place in Doha - nor are there plans for direct dialogue, its deputy FM has said. 

President Trump has simultaneously hailed "very good" talks on Iran in Doha - apparently just referencing envoys Witkoff and Kushner merely dialoguing with third country intermediaries. 

On the same day, Vice President JD Vance played a little 'bad cop' - warning that if Iran fails to acquiesce and destabilizes the region that the US could respond, escalating in several ways. "If Iran attempts to rebuild its nuclear program, threaten its neighbors and support terrorism, President Trump has options to deal with it," Vance said, without specifying further. Earlier the WSJ stated that Trump had been briefed on several military options - including 'all-out war'; however, the US president is said to want to give diplomacy more time.

Vance additionally stated that the US "dropped bombs on Iran because it fired on ships, and we used leverage to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz" - and suggested this could be done again. He also mentioned that current indirect Doha talks are "to discuss the details and flow of maritime traffic." According to more:

Addressing troops at a naval air base in Virginia, US Vice President JD Vance says Iran's nuclear program has been set back decades thanks to American military strikes against it.

"If you look at what our own intelligence says about their nuclear program, they are further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they have ever been since basically the last 20 or 30 years," Vance says, stopping short of US President Donald Trump's claim that Iran's nuclear program has been "totally obliterated."

"What the president asks you to accomplish is to destroy the defense industrial base of that country, so that if they ever decided to rebuild their military, or if they ever decided to rebuild that nuclear program, they would be harmless to do it. You did that exactly as well," Vance tells the US troops.

Iran has meanwhile consistently denied that it is pursuing nuclear weapons, but very likely many IRGC hardliners are calling for just that.

On the Hormuz front, the US believes it is regaining leverage:

US SEES 10 MILLION BARRELS VIA HORMUZ SAPPING IRAN OIL LEVERAGE

VANCE: WE'VE HAD FREE COMMERCIAL TRANSIT FOR LAST THREE DAYS

VANCE: WE CAN'T DROP BOMBS  FOR SAKE OF DROPPING BOMBS

VANCE: IF IRAN TRIES TO REBUILD NUCLEAR PROGRAM, US HAS OPTIONS

President Trump started this week by claiming that Iran had "requested" direct talks in Qatar, but as of yet the ground reality in Doha is that Iranian officials have refused, leaving US representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to just bide their time and deal with Qatari and Pakistani intermediaries.

In this context of Tehran putting direct contacts on hold, Trump has reportedly been briefed on options for a possible return to broader war with Iran, but has for now opted to continue diplomatic negotiations, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal citing admin officials.