US Vice President JD Vance stated on Thursday that he would not classify the ongoing conflict with Iran as a “war,” despite persistent clashes six months into the hostilities.
These remarks come as mounting indicators suggest President Donald Trump is attempting to draw a line under a conflict that has increasingly bogged down his administration.
“I wouldn’t call it a war. At this moment, there is no active shooting,” Vance told a White House press briefing when asked whether the conflict would conclude before the US midterm elections in November.
Vance acknowledged that hostilities have flared up in certain areas but noted that major combat operations lasted for only six weeks following the onset of the US-Israel conflict on February 28.
“But when you ask when this will end, you are essentially asking when Iran will cease firing at ships. The reality is, I do not have an answer to that question; you would have to ask the Iranians,” he stated.
Following several weeks of relative calm, fresh clashes erupted following US raids on Sunday, deepening the impasse in the six-month conflict as Iran maintains a stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Vance insisted that the United States will not reopen negotiations with Iran until Tehran halts its attacks on commercial shipping.
Investigation into Wedding Strike
“Their control over the Strait of Hormuz is effectively gone,” Vance asserted regarding Iran.
“If you go back three months ago, how much oil and gas was transiting the strait under Iranian threats? It was virtually nothing. Now, flows are almost back to pre-conflict levels,” Vance explained.
President Trump’s approval ratings have plummeted to near-record lows as the president, who campaigned on keeping the United States out of foreign wars, finds himself entangled in a deepening quagmire with the Islamic Republic.
Since February, the conflict has claimed the lives of 18 US troops, alongside thousands of individuals in Iran and Lebanon.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, President Trump is currently discussing with senior aides whether to formally declare an end to the conflict. Last week, he posted a photo of a banner reading “Mission Accomplished.”
Iran escalated its actions on Thursday, announcing fresh attacks on US military bases in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Tehran stated the strikes were retaliation for a wedding attack it attributed to Washington.
Vance confirmed that the United States is investigating the wedding strike, though he expressed strong skepticism regarding official Iranian accounts of the event.
“I know that we are investigating,” Vance stated. “I will say that Iranian state media has not been a reliable source of information regarding the events of this conflict. Therefore, I am extremely skeptical of these claims.”
The Iranian Red Crescent reported that a missile attack on a wedding in the coastal town of Kuhestak late Tuesday killed four people, including a child, and injured over 50 others.
