Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that President Donald Trump is maintaining flexibility in dealing with Iran, including the possibility of military action if diplomatic efforts do not succeed.

In an interview with Megyn Kelly on SiriusXM, Vance said the president alone will determine the next steps in confronting Tehran, noting that Trump “will ultimately decide how we handle this particular Iranian situation, just like he decided on Operation Midnight Hammer.”

Vance said Trump’s position on Iran’s nuclear ambitions has remained unchanged for years, emphasizing that the president has repeatedly drawn a firm line against Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons. “What he has been very clear on, if you go back to 2015, 2016, 2021, 2025, the President has said consistently we can’t let these people have a nuclear weapon. Now, why? Why does that matter to America? Number one, [Iran is] the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism,” Vance said.

He warned that a nuclear-armed Iran would dramatically raise the stakes for global security, arguing that such a development would increase the risk of catastrophic attacks and spark a regional arms race. “You think it’s bad when we have a domestic terror attack where a couple of people die, and you’re right. What happens when the same people who are shooting up a mall or driving airplanes into buildings have a nuclear weapon? That is unacceptable. And it’s not just them, because if the Iranians get a nuclear weapon, you know who gets a nuclear weapon the next day? The Saudi Arabians. And then somebody else in the Gulf Arab state. And so you have nuclear proliferation on a global scale. The biggest threat to security in the world is a lot of people having nuclear weapons. So what the president has said is Iran’s not going to get a nuclear weapon,” the Vice President stated.

Vance reiterated that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is a central pillar of the administration’s policy, while acknowledging criticism from both sides of the political spectrum over Trump’s tone and tactics. “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. That is the stated policy goal of the president of the United States. It’s so funny. Sometimes you have people who are saying, ‘Well, the president’s too belligerent.’ And then sometimes you have people who say, ‘Well, the president, he’s talking about diplomacy and he’s talking about negotiating with the Iranians. We shouldn’t negotiate. We should just bomb them.’”

Describing how Trump approaches foreign policy decisions, Vance said the president prefers to exhaust non-military avenues before turning to force, but will not rule out any option. “What the president’s going to do is he’s going to keep his options open. He’s going to talk to everybody. He’s going to try to accomplish what he can through non-military means. And if he feels like the military is the only option, then he’s ultimately going to choose that option.”

{Matzav.com}