Vice President JD Vance pushed for Iranian leaders to negotiate seriously with U.S. officials this week, even as the United States is building up the largest force of warships and aircraft in the Middle East.
President Donald Trump warned that military action against Iran is possible if negotiations over its nuclear program collapse, but also said he is still seeking a diplomatic solution with Iran, during his State of the Union address Tuesday night
“The president has been as crystal clear as he could be. Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, that would be the ultimate military objective if that’s the route that they chose,” Vance said during a Fox News interview on Wednesday. “That is, of course, what we’re trying to accomplish, as the president said, through the preferred route of diplomacy. I think most Americans understand that you can’t let the craziest and worst regime in the world have nuclear weapons.”
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“But it’s very simple. We have to get to a position where Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, cannot threaten the world with nuclear terrorism,” he continued. “That’s what the president is accomplishing. That’s what the president has set as our goal. He’s going to try to accomplish it diplomatically.”
Vance also said that Trump has “a number of other tools at his disposal” to dissuade Iran from having a nuclear weapon and is willing to use them.
“I hope the Iranians take it seriously in their negotiations tomorrow, because that’s certainly what the president prefers,” Vance said. “I think the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and everybody in their system should understand that we’ve been crystal clear, and we’re hopeful that we’re able to come to a good resolution without the military, but if we have to use the military, the president, of course, has that right as well.”
Both negotiation teams are set to meet for a third round of negotiations on Thursday in Geneva.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe held a Gang of Eight intelligence briefing at the White House on Tuesday, hours before Trump’s prime-time address.
“Look, this is serious, and the administration has to make its case to the American people,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said afterwards.
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