US Vice President: America Wins Either Way in Nuclear Talks with Iran

US Vice President JD Vance said the United States will come out ahead even if Iran refuses to sign a final agreement to end the conflict and permanently curb its nuclear programme. Speaking during an interview with comedian and television host Bill Maher on Friday, Vance said the US had already achieved one of its biggest objectives by severely damaging Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Vance said that Iran now stands in a much weaker position than before. He said the US remains confident because its military actions have already reduced Tehran’s ability to pursue nuclear weapons. “If we don’t make the final deal, their nuclear program is still destroyed, they’re still much weaker as a country,” Vance said. “So my attitude is America wins either way,” he added. Vance defended President Donald Trump’s diplomatic strategy and said the administration had taken a different approach from previous US governments. According to him, Trump gave negotiators a chance to completely reshape relations with Iran instead of relying only on pressure or sanctions. “The president asked us to offer them an opportunity to fundamentally transform how they behave with the West,” Vance said. He added that the US remains open to improving ties if Iran changes its policies. “If they’re willing to change, we’re willing to change, too,” Vance said. “If they’re not willing to change, we still fundamentally have all the cards. I think it’s a good place for us to be,” he added. Last weekend, Vance travelled to Switzerland for talks with senior Iranian representatives. Pakistani and Qatari officials helped mediate the discussions, which marked the first round of negotiations under a recently signed memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran. During those meetings, Vance said the United States wanted to build a completely new relationship with Iran if its leaders abandoned their nuclear ambitions and stopped supporting activities that destabilise the Middle East. “What the president has asked us to do is turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran,” Vance said. “If they are willing to give up being a driver of regional instability and give up nuclear weapons ambitions for the long term, then the United States is willing to fundamentally transform our relationship with that country. That is certainly our goal,” he said. The memorandum of understanding between President Donald Trump and Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian created a ceasefire and opened a 60-day period for negotiations aimed at reaching a broader agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme and regional security. The fragile ceasefire came under pressure on Friday after President Trump accused Iran of violating the agreement. According to the US, an Iranian drone struck the Singapore-flagged cargo vessel M/V Ever Lovely after Tehran warned commercial ships not to use a US-backed shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz. The Trump administration described the drone attack as a serious breach of the ceasefire. Soon afterward, US forces carried out military strikes on Iranian targets, including drone storage facilities and coastal radar sites. Iran on Saturday announced that it had launched retaliatory strikes against targets linked to the United States. Iranian officials did not reveal which locations had been hit. Vance later issued a warning saying Iran should resolve any disagreements through diplomacy instead of violence. “Iran signed a cease-fire agreement. We have honored it. If they have disagreements about how the MoU is being applied, they can pick up the phone,” Vance wrote. “But violence will be met with violence,” he added.