As Trump changes tune, Vance steps in to defend the U.S. President's Iran policy
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance stepped in to defend Donald Trump's Iran policy on Tuesday (June 17, 2025) after the President ruled out a call for a ceasefire and dramatically escalated his anti-Iran rhetoric, triggering speculation that the U.S. would get directly involved in Israel's war against Iran.
'We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,' Mr. Trump wrote in a social media post, after saying that he was not looking for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, but an end to the conflict. In a direct threat to Iran's leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mr. Trump said 'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don't want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin'.
Israel launched the war on June 13, three days ahead of a scheduled talk between Iran and Mr. Trump's negotiation team in Muscat, Oman. Even after the war started, Mr. Trump had said he was open to a deal with Iran. But when the crisis escalated following Israeli strikes and Iran's counterattacks with ballistic missiles and drones, Mr. Trump demanded on Tuesday (June 17, 2025) an 'unconditional surrender' from Tehran. His posts came amid reports in the U.S. media that Israel was pressing Mr. Trump to join the war.
During the election campaign, Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance repeatedly criticised the wars launched by previous American Presidents. Mr. Vance, a vocal critic of America's 2003 Iraq war, wrote in a social media post that Mr. Trump has been 'amazingly consistent, over 10 years, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.... 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.'
Within Mr. Trump's rightwing MAGA base, there is opposition to America's entanglement in yet another war in West Asia. 'Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA,' Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican Congresswoman and a vocal advocate of President Trump, wrote in a social media post on June 16. 'The neocon warmongers are all about fighting a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, fighting Iran for Israel, and protecting Taiwan from China,' she said on Wednesday (June 18, 2025). Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host and a popular conservative voice, called Mr. Trump complicit in the act of war.
'I have yet to see a single good argument for why Iran needed to enrich uranium well above the threshold for civilian use,' Mr. Vance said, referring to Iran's enrichment of uranium to 60% purity. The 2015 nuclear agreement signed between Iran and world powers, including the U.S., allowed Iran to enrich uranium at a lower level for civilian purposes.
Iran had been fully compliant with the terms of the agreement until Mr. Trump, in his first term as President, unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the agreement. Iran restarted uranium enrichment beyond the allowed threshold after the U.S. reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
Mr. Vance's comments came amid reports that Israeli officials were pushing Mr. Trump to join the war. Israel is running low on defensive arrow interceptors, a U.S. official told The Wall Street Journal. 'The U.S. has been augmenting Israel's defences with systems on the ground, at sea and in the air... now there is concern about the U.S. burning through interceptors as well,' said the official.
According to another report, Israel is asking the U.S. to join the war because Israel lacks the bunker buster bombs that could destroy Iran's most fortified nuclear plant in Fordow.
'The president has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military's focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens. He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the President,' Mr. Vance said. '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.'
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