Sources in the intelligence community have confirmed that Senator JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, met with Iranian officials at a luxury resort in Switzerland last month. The clandestine talks, which took place at the five-star Dolder Grand in Zurich, have sent shockwaves through MI6 and the broader UK security establishment.
The meeting, brokered by a shadowy network of private intermediaries with ties to both Trump’s inner circle and Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard, reportedly covered oil sanctions and a potential prisoner swap. But what has intelligence chiefs truly rattled is the apparent bypass of US State Department protocols. One former senior MI6 officer described the backchannel as 'deeply reckless' and warned it could undermine decades of allied coordination on Iran.
Documents obtained by this newsroom show that Vance’s itinerary included three separate sessions with two senior Iranian diplomats over a 48-hour period. The agenda items, blacked out in the leaked memos, suggest trade-offs beyond the public narrative. Sources close to the Swiss federal police say the meeting was arranged with extreme secrecy, using encrypted communications and cash payments for the resort bookings.
The timing is explosive. It comes as the Biden administration struggles to revive the nuclear deal and as UK intelligence warns of increased Iranian sabotage operations on British soil. A Whitehall insider said: 'If this is true, it’s a direct affront to the Five Eyes alliance. Vance is essentially running a rogue foreign policy from a hotel suite.'
Vance’s campaign has denied any impropriety, calling the meeting 'a routine discussion with a diplomatic delegation.' But the details suggest otherwise. The Iranian officials present were not accredited diplomats but operatives with links to the Quds Force. One of them is under EU sanctions for arms smuggling.
This is not the first time Trump’s orbit has courted controversy with Iran. From the 2017 secret channel through Oman to the backdoor deal for a journalist’s release, there is a pattern of off-the-books diplomacy that has long troubled allies. But Vance’s involvement raises the stakes. If elected, he would be a heartbeat from the presidency, and his foreign policy instincts are clearly at odds with standard US practice.
The British government is now reviewing its own intelligence sharing with the Trump campaign. Questions are being asked in Parliament. And in the Swiss mountains, the records of a luxury hotel may hold the key to a scandal that could reshape transatlantic trust.
