Vice President JD Vance outlined the Trump administration’s objectives in its negotiations with Iran while defending President Donald Trump’s strategy of combining diplomacy with the credible threat of military action during an interview on The Michael Knowles Show.
Vance said the administration’s central goal is to secure a comprehensive agreement that permanently eliminates Iran’s nuclear program through enforceable commitments and rigorous international oversight.
“There are a few things that we want,” the Vice President explained. “We want durable commitments that are verifiable and backed up by inspections that Iran will denuclearize their entire country.”
He also expressed frustration with what he described as Iran’s contradictory messaging regarding the negotiations. Although Iranian officials have publicly denied holding peace talks with the United States, technical discussions are nonetheless scheduled to take place in Qatar.
“One of the things I find just fascinating and frustrating about the Iranians is they’ll say, no, no, no, there aren’t peace talks ongoing, but there are technical talks between the United States and Iran about the peace deal,” said Vance.
“It’s like, okay. So it’s a Persian negotiating tactic and a Persian rhetorical device that I don’t understand, but that is the way that the Iranians have done this,” he added.
JD Vance on Iran:
One of the things I find just fascinating and frustrating about the Iranians is they'll say, "No, no, there aren't peace talks ongoing," but there are technical talks between the United States and Iran about the peace deal.
It's a Persian negotiating tactic… pic.twitter.com/eNd8t15TTl
— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 30, 2026
Addressing critics who favor an expanded military campaign against Iran, Vance argued that simply calling for additional airstrikes without a defined objective is not a sound strategy. He said Trump’s approach is to employ military force only when it advances a specific goal.
The Vice President also responded to critics who advocate for continued strikes on Iran, saying their “attitude is just drop bombs and drop bombs and drop bombs, and they can’t really articulate to what end.”
“What the President is saying, ‘I’m willing to drop bombs’, and he’s clearly shown that he’s willing to drop bombs, but only if it serves an objective,” explained Vance.
Iran insisted on Monday that its representatives would not be meeting with American officials in Qatar. Tehran maintained that while a delegation of technical experts would travel to Doha to discuss implementation of the memorandum of understanding with the United States, there would be no direct talks between the two sides.
Later that day, however, President Trump told reporters that the anticipated meetings with Iranian officials in Qatar would be “perhaps important, perhaps not”.
Subsequent reports indicated that U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was traveling to Doha to participate in the discussions with Iranian representatives.
The diplomatic efforts follow heightened military tensions over the weekend, when U.S. forces launched two strikes against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran allegedly violated the ceasefire.
On Saturday night, Trump warned that continued violations could trigger a much broader American military response.
“United States aircraft just struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN! It is very possible that they will never learn!” Trump wrote.
He added, “There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”
{Matzav.com}