After bombing Iran’s main nuclear facilities, the Trump administration continues to show its desire to negotiate with Tehran.
exist NBC interview Meet Kristen Welker Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that Iran’s nuclear weapons program was “destroyed”, saying its missile program was a failure and noted that most of its proxy allies were in trouble.
“Iranians are obviously not very good at war,” he added. “Perhaps they should follow President Trump’s leadership and give peace a chance. If they take it seriously, I promise you are the president of the United States as well.”
Although the United States dropped several “Bunker Buster” bombs at Fordow’s Fordow’s fortification site, it is unclear whether it suffered the damage caused underground and whether it was indeed destroyed. Vance later added that he was confident that the United States had “substantively delayed” Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.
On Saturday night, Trump warned Iran that more U.S. attacks would occur if Iran did not seek peace. Vance on Sunday recommended that the country contact government officials through post-channels.
The vice president also accused Iran of conducting a stone wall in an earlier round of negotiations on nuclear plans, prompting the United States to launch air strikes.
But Iran’s foreign minister shows that it is the United States and its allies that have closed the doors diplomatically.
“Last week, when Israel decided to blow up this diplomacy, we were in talks with the United States. This week, when the United States decided to blow up this diplomacy, we had talks with the E3/EU. What conclusions will you draw?” Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted on X. “For the UK and EU high representatives, Iran must’ve returned to the table.
Vance also responded to other government officials, saying the United States did not seek regime change, while clarifying that the United States did not engage in war with Iran, but rather with nuclear plans.
Asked if he could rule out that U.S. ground forces were eventually deployed, Vance replied that U.S. had no interest in protracted conflict.
“We have no interest in the local boots,” he added. “The president is actually one of the most intense critics of the Middle East’s foreign policy failure in 25 years, which is why he did what he did: very precise, very precise surgical strikes tailored to the U.S. national interests. And, the national interest is Iran without nuclear weapons.”
This is because some of Trump’s most determined supporters expressed deep concern about the United States in another war in the Middle East.
Vance, who served in Iraq during his Marine Corps service, admitted these concerns and said he could sympathize with Americans who felt that way.
“But the difference is that we had stupid presidents back then, and now we have a president who actually knows how to achieve the national security goals of the United States,” he explained. “So, it won’t be a long thing. We’ve gotten in. We’ve done the work of re-setting their nuclear program. We’re now going to work on permanently removing that nuclear program in the next few years. That’s what the president plans to do.”
