WASHINGTON D.C (VINnews) – Vice President JD Vance on Monday sidestepped questions about reported internal skepticism toward aspects of the U.S. approach to Iran, while strongly affirming the Trump administration’s position that Tehran must never acquire a nuclear weapon.

In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Vance was pressed on reports that he had expressed doubts about the Iran conflict privately to President Donald Trump. Vance declined to discuss internal deliberations.

“I give advice to the President of the United States that’s going to be private because the President should rely on his senior advisors without them running to the media,” Vance said.

“What I will say is that I 100 percent agree with the President on the fact that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he added.

Vance described Iran as “tough negotiators” but warned that allowing them a nuclear capability would pose unacceptable risks.

“I’ve seen that just in the negotiations that we’ve had over the last couple of days, that these are tough negotiators but they’re fundamentally the kinds of people where them having a nuclear weapon would impose terrible costs on the entire world,” Vance said. “If they’re willing to engage in economic terrorism on the entire world, what would it mean? What leverage would they have if they had a nuclear bomb in Tehran?”

“That’s not an outcome that is acceptable to us or really should be acceptable to anybody,” he continued. “So I 100 percent support the President’s goals here to keep nuclear weapons, to keep the worst weapons of war out of the hands of the Iranians.”

The comments come one day after U.S.-Iran negotiations in Islamabad collapsed without a deal. The talks, led by Vance, failed primarily over Iran’s refusal to accept U.S. demands that it permanently abandon its nuclear weapons program, including verifiable dismantlement of enrichment facilities and removal of highly enriched uranium.a30910

Following the breakdown, the U.S. military began a blockade of Iranian ports and vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for global oil shipments. Trump has said the pressure is intended to force Tehran back to the table on American terms.cbadbe