Vice president says Washington will not negotiate while Iran targets commercial shipping as renewed strikes keep Hormuz and energy markets under pressure
By Saqib S. Qureshi I SCN NEWS
WASHINGTON — U.S. Vice President JD Vance declined on Thursday to say when the conflict with Iran would end and disputed describing the continuing confrontation as a war, even after Washington and Tehran exchanged attacks this week and months of hostilities have left U.S. forces heavily deployed across the Middle East.
Speaking at a White House press briefing, Vance argued that major U.S. combat operations had ended months ago and that Washington’s immediate military objective was now focused on protecting commercial shipping, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz. “I wouldn’t call it a war,” Vance said, adding that there was no active shooting at that moment while acknowledging that fighting had flared up.
Pressed repeatedly for a timeline, Vance said the answer depended on Tehran ending attacks against commercial vessels. He said he did not know when Iran would stop firing on ships and suggested that question ultimately had to be put to Iranian authorities. The vice president also said Washington was not negotiating with Tehran and would not resume talks while attacks on commercial shipping continued.
The comments came after a fresh escalation this week shattered a period of relative calm. The United States carried out airstrikes on Tuesday against what it described as Iranian military targets along the coast following attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran subsequently retaliated, while renewed hostilities pushed oil prices higher and again highlighted the conflict’s impact far beyond the battlefield.
Vance sought to distinguish the current phase from the intense combat that followed the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli confrontation with Iran on Feb. 28. He said major combat operations lasted roughly six weeks and argued that U.S. forces had significantly degraded Iran’s military capabilities. But the absence of a negotiated settlement, recurring exchanges of fire and continued American military deployments mean Washington has yet to define a clear endpoint for the confrontation.
More than 50,000 U.S. troops remain deployed across the Middle East, while Washington has surged military assets into the region, including nearly 20 warships focused on the maritime confrontation, Reuters reported. Some forces have remained deployed longer than initially expected, while assets have also been shifted from Europe and the Indo-Pacific.
At the center of the standoff is the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most strategically important energy corridors. Roughly a fifth of global oil and gas supplies moved through the waterway before the conflict, making disruptions there capable of rapidly transmitting the effects of U.S.-Iran hostilities into global fuel prices and inflation.
Vance credited U.S. military operations with protecting commercial shipping and preventing a wider energy crisis. He argued that Iran’s ability to exert pressure on global energy markets was diminishing as some tanker traffic resumed, although shipping through the strait remains far below pre-war levels.
The economic consequences are becoming increasingly difficult for the administration to separate from the military conflict. Asked when U.S. gasoline prices could return to around $3 a gallon, Vance declined to make a commitment. Higher energy prices and the prolonged confrontation have become politically significant as Trump’s Republican Party approaches November’s midterm elections with narrow congressional majorities at stake.
Vance also faced questions about reports of civilian casualties from recent U.S. military action, including an alleged strike on a wedding party in the Iranian coastal city of Sirik. He said the military was investigating the incident while expressing skepticism about accounts coming from Tehran. The U.S. military has maintained that it does not deliberately target civilians.
The administration’s description of the conflict is increasingly consequential. While Vance rejected the term “war,” U.S. forces remain deployed in large numbers, military strikes have continued, Tehran has retaliated and no diplomatic process is currently underway to establish a lasting end to hostilities.
The White House position presented Thursday therefore offered no calendar for ending the confrontation. Instead, Vance effectively tied its duration to Iranian behavior in the Strait of Hormuz — leaving Washington without a publicly defined endpoint six months after the fighting began.