Amid reports that the United States (US) is mulling declaring Iran war over, Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday (local time) that President Donald Trump and his advisors have a variety of options available to deal with Tehran. However, the 42-year-old Republican leader did not elaborate about the options, pointing out that it would limit the Trump administration’s ability to make decisions.
Vance made remarks while speaking at a press conference in Washington.
Although Vance said the options include economic, military, diplomatic and covert measures. Accusing Iran of acting like ‘terrorists’ and targeting merchant vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, Vance said the US want to prevent a global energy crisis. He also defended how the US is safeguarding commercial shipping in the region.
“There are a lot of additional tools that we have at our disposal. Some of those the President will use and some of them he won’t,” the US V-P said. “But everything that could happen is on the table. Economic pressure, military pressure, diplomatic pressure, covert pressure. Of course these are tools in the President’s toolkit.”
The Iran war began on February 28, with a joint strike by the US and Israel. The first strike had eliminated most of the senior leadership of Iran, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Despite that, the conflict has continued for over seven months and caused disruptions in global supply chains, leading to an energy crisis.ย
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the US is now considering whether to declare an end to the war. But at the same time, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has extended the deployment of troops in the Middle East, fueling speculations that the conflict will continue till next year.
Iran, on the other hand, has warned the US and continued targeting its military bases in the region, including those in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan. But Iran has said that it is ready to return to the ceasefire deal reached in June if US does the same.
“If the US returns to its commitments in the memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate,” Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on sidelines of the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Kyrgyzstan earlier this week.
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