- Trump has made it clear that Iran cannot possess nuclear weapons, Vance says.
- The United States and Iran will hold a third round of negotiations in Geneva on Thursday.
- Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.
US Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump still preferred a diplomatic solution with Iran and that he hoped the Iranians would take that seriously during their negotiations on Thursday.
Vance said Fox News’ According to the program “America’s Newsroom”, Trump made it clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. He said Trump wanted to achieve that goal diplomatically, but had other tools.
The American and Iranian delegations will hold a third round of negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program on Thursday in Geneva.
His comments come as the United States announces new sanctions on Iran, continuing what Washington calls its “maximum pressure” campaign.
As U.S. forces mass in the Middle East, Trump claimed in his speech to Congress on Tuesday that Iran was seeking to develop missiles capable of striking the United States.
Trump also accused Tehran of having “sinister nuclear ambitions” and of working to rebuild a nuclear program that was targeted by U.S. strikes last year.
Vance said Fox News that if Trump was going to try to “accomplish it through diplomacy,” the American president also had the “right” to resort to military action.
“The president has a number of other tools to ensure that doesn’t happen. He’s shown a willingness to use them and I hope the Iranians take that seriously in tomorrow’s negotiations, because that’s certainly what the president prefers.”
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian had previously struck an optimistic tone, saying there were “favorable prospects” for the negotiations as his Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his team left for Switzerland.
Iran also rejected Trump’s claims about its missile program, calling them “big lies.”
But while Trump said he preferred a diplomatic solution, he also laid out what appeared to be the justifications for possible military action in the first State of the Union address of his second term.
It’s the same forum in which then-President George W. Bush made the case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Trump claimed in his speech that Tehran has “already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our overseas bases, and they are working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.”
Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.
