Vice President JD Vance said on June 17 that President Donald Trump has been “amazingly consistent” on Iran amid the conflict between that country and Israel.
“First, POTUS has been amazingly consistent, over 10 years, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Over the last few months, he encouraged his foreign policy team to reach a deal with the Iranians to accomplish this goal,” he said.
“The president has made clear that Iran cannot have uranium enrichment. And he said repeatedly that this would happen one of two ways--the easy way or the ‘other’ way.”
Vance sought to distinguish between Iran having a nuclear program and a program producing civilian nuclear energy.
“Iran could have civilian nuclear power without enrichment, but Iran rejected that. Meanwhile, they’ve enriched uranium far above the level necessary for any civilian purpose. They’ve been found in violation of their non-proliferation obligations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is hardly a rightwing organization,” he said.
“It’s one thing to want civilian nuclear energy. It’s another thing to demand sophisticated enrichment capacity.
“And it’s still another to cling to enrichment while simultaneously violating basic non-proliferation obligations and enriching right to the point of weapons-grade uranium.”
Vance expressed appreciation for Trump’s maintaining the U.S. military focus on protecting both U.S. troops and citizens.
“He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president,” he noted.
“But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue. And having seen this up close and personal, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people’s goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus.”
Meanwhile, Trump criticized former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson for warning about war with Iran and for suggesting the United States should stay out of the matter completely, with the president directing a post on Truth Social on June 16 toward Carlson, writing in all caps, “Iran can not have a nuclear weapon!”
On June 13, Carlson called those who want the United States involved in a war with Iran “warmongers.”
“Who are the warmongers? They would include anyone who’s calling Donald Trump today to demand air strikes and other direct US military involvement in a war with Iran.”
Talking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Vance denied that his June 17 post was addressed to Republican supporters concerned with Trump’s posture on Iran.
“I think it’s addressed to everybody who’s interested. Why are we talking about Iran right now, why is it in the news, and why does it matter as a matter, as a question, of administration policy?” he said.
“So it’s not targeted to any particular demographic of the country, but I think a lot of people don’t fully appreciate that.”
As of press time, Trump is expected to be in a meeting in the Situation Room at the White House in what appears to be a discussion on steps to take surrounding the conflict, which the United States has not been directly involved in. He left the G7 in Canada early.
