JD Vance suggested that the war in Iran might not end for “months,” even though Donald Trump frequently suggests it will be over any day now.
In an interview airing this week on CBS Sunday Morning, the vice president claimed that the U.S. is “very close” to reaching a deal with Tehran, then covered his back by offering a broad timeline for such an agreement.
“Right now, I feel that we are in a position to get a deal that is good for the United States economically, and that really does deal with the Iranian nuclear program—not just now, not just while Donald Trump is president—but for the long term, to where my kids can say when they’re adults, Iran is not going to have a nuclear weapon,” Vance said.
“I think we’re very close to achieving that goal, but we still got some wood to chop, and we’re going to keep doing it.”
When asked by CBS’ Robert Costa if a deal with Iran to end the deeply unpopular Middle East conflict would be reached before the midterm elections, a defiant Vance said: “Oh, absolutely.”
“I think we’re going to know a lot before the midterm elections. Look, I think that the deal could happen in the next week, but the deal could also happen months from now,” Vance added.
Vance’s suggestion that a deal with Iran could happen at any point before November’s crucial midterm elections contradicts claims made by Trump for several weeks.
Not only has Trump for three months said that the war with Iran will end imminently, but the president has also claimed dozens of times over the past two months that Tehran is close to reaching a peace deal with the U.S.
Analysis from CNN found that since just before the shaky ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran was agreed to on April 7, Trump has claimed on at least 38 occasions that the two countries were close to a deal.
“I think it’s close to over, yeah. I view it as very close to being over,” Trump told Fox Business on April 14.
Even before the ceasefire was put in place, Trump insisted that Iran was close to agreeing to a deal that both sides would be happy with.
“We have points, major points of agreement, I would say, almost all points of agreement,” Trump told reporters in Florida on March 23.
Trump’s claim became even more ridiculous as both countries exchanged fire after Iran’s military shot down a U.S. Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
Elsewhere during his CBS Sunday Morning interview, Vance was asked if Iran was “stringing President Trump along,” knowing that the unpopular war and the high gas prices it has caused will be politically damaging for him and the GOP in the midterms.
“No, I don’t think so. Again, I think their system takes a long time to reach consensus,” Vance said.
“I always hear people ask me, ‘Do you trust the Iranians?’ And what the president has said is, ‘I don’t trust anybody,’” he added. “What I do trust is my own ability to negotiate. I trust our administration’s ability to negotiate, and I trust the enforcement provisions that we’re going to get in place.”
