Vice President J.D. Vance on Sunday rejected the idea that President Trump is waging a war against Iran, saying “we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program” and the Persian nation has the chance to hit the “reset” button in diplomatic talks.
Mr. Vance said that Mr. Trump is not seeking regime change and does not want the situation to escalate.
“We want to end their nuclear program, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here,” Mr. Vance said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We believe very strongly that there are two pathways.”
“There’s a pathway where Iran continues to fund terrorism, continues to try to build a nuclear program, attacks American troops. That’s the bad pathway for Iran, and it will be met with overwhelming force,” he said. “There’s another pathway on the table here. There’s a pathway where Iran integrates itself into the international community, stops funding terrorism and stops trying to pursue a nuclear weapon. This is a reset. This is an opportunity for the Iranians to take the smart path. We certainly hope that they will.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the United States has “blown up” potential diplomatic talks and described the strike as a “betrayal of diplomacy.”
Mr. Vance said the foreign minister is “exactly wrong.”
“We didn’t blow up diplomacy,” Mr. Vance said, arguing the administration felt Iran was dragging its feet.
“We felt very strongly that the Iranians were stonewalling us,” he said. “They weren’t taking this seriously. They were trying to draw this process out as long as possible so that they could rebuild their nuclear weapons program without the threat of American action.”
He said, “Diplomacy never was given a real chance by the Iranians.”
Pentagon officials on Sunday said Iran’s nuclear sites sustained “severe damage” from the B-2 bomber strikes.
Mr. Trump on Saturday called the strikes “a spectacular military success” and said Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been “completely and totally obliterated.”
He also issued a warning, saying there are “many targets left.”
“If peace doesn’t come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes,” Mr. Trump said.
On Sunday, Mr. Vance said the strike against Iran’s nuclear sites is a “testament to the power of the American military,” and he said it “shows what can happen when you have that great American military in the hands of capable presidential leadership.”
“What we did is we destroyed the Iranian nuclear program,” Mr. Vance said. “I think we set that program back substantially, and we did it without endangering the lives of the American pilots.”
“That’s an incredible thing, and I think we all should be proud — whatever, whatever our politics, we should be proud of what these guys accomplished,” he said. “A very, very high-impact mission under a lot of pressure.”
Mr. Vance said the ball is now in Iran’s leaders’ court and the administration wants them to come to the negotiating table in the hopes that things do not escalate further.
“If they’re willing to do that, they’re going to find a willing partner in the United States of America,” he said.
Mr. Vance also warned Iran against interfering with shipping and trade in the Strait of Hormuz.
“I think that would be suicidal for the Iranians themselves,” he said. “Their entire economy runs through the Strait of Hormuz. If they want to destroy their own economy and cause disruptions in the world, I think that would be their decision.”
