US not at war with Iran, but its nuclear programme: JD Vance on N-site strikes

US Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that the United States is not at war with Iran, but with its nuclear programme. He said American strikes ordered by President Donald Trump had pushed Iran’s nuclear ambitions back “by a very long time.”

“We’re not at war with Iran. We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear programme,” Vance said during an interview on NBC News.

The statement came after Trump on Sunday confirmed that the US had hit Iran’s main nuclear sites overnight using massive bunker-busting bombs. He claimed to have “obliterated” the facilities, joining Israel’s ongoing military operations against Iran in a major escalation of conflict in the region.

Vance clarified that the US does not want a regime change in Iran. “We do not want to protract this. We want to end the nuclear programme, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here,” he said.

“I think that we have really pushed their programme back by a very long time. I think that it’s going to be many, many years before the Iranians are going to be able to develop a nuclear weapon,” Vance said.

Vance accused Iran of failing to negotiate in good faith over its nuclear programme. He said this refusal was one of the reasons behind the US decision to launch the strikes. Washington had previously been in diplomatic talks with Tehran over the issue.

He also said Trump made the final decision to launch the strikes shortly before they were carried out. Since then, the US has received some “indirect” messages from Iran, Vance added. He further stressed that the US has “no interest in boots on the ground.”

Trump said on Friday that he would decide in the next two weeks whether the US would become directly involved in the Israel-Iran conflict, which began with Israeli attacks on Iran on June 13.

With Reuters inputs.