US Vice President JD Vance has repeatedly personally approached President Donald Trump with a request to entrust him with the leadership of the negotiations with Iran. With this move, Vance is seeking to strengthen his position and standing within the US as a potential successor to the incumbent American leader, a White House source says, AP reports.

As per the interlocutors, Trump did not immediately agree to the vice president's aforesaid proposal, but later relented and gave him the opportunity to lead the negotiations with the Iranian side in Pakistan and Switzerland.

"It’s rather unusual for the VP to be given the lead role in a negotiation," said Ian Kelly, a retired career diplomat and ambassador during the first Trump administration.

According to the AP, Vance was initially optimistic about reaching an agreement with Iran. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a completely different view, and for this very reason he declined to lead the American delegation at the talks in Pakistan in April.

The sources add that there are serious differences between Vance and Rubio on the option of US foreign policy strategy in the Middle East.