- Trump has been aware that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, says Vance.
- The US, Iran will hold the third round of talks 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 took that seriously in their talks on Thursday.
Vance told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” program that Trump has been aware that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. He said Trump wants to achieve that goal diplomatically, but has other tools at his disposal.
The US and Iranian delegations will hold a third round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear program in Geneva on Thursday.
His comments came as the US announced new sanctions targeting Iran and continued what Washington calls its “maximum pressure” campaign.
As US forces mass in the Middle East, Trump claimed in his address to Congress on Tuesday that Iran was seeking to develop missiles capable of hitting the US.
Trump also accused Tehran of having “sinister nuclear ambitions” and working to rebuild a nuclear program that was the target of US strikes last year.
Vance told Fox News that while Trump should try to “achieve it diplomatically”, the US president also had the “right” to use military action.
“The president has a number of other tools at his disposal to make sure this doesn’t happen. He’s shown a willingness to use them, and I hope the Iranians take that seriously in the negotiations tomorrow, because that’s certainly what the president prefers.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian earlier struck an upbeat tone, saying there were “favorable prospects” for the talks as his Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his team left for Switzerland.
Iran also dismissed Trump’s claims about its missile program as “big lies.”
But while Trump said he preferred a diplomatic solution, he also laid out what appeared to be the rationale for possible military action in the first State of the Union address of his second term.
It was the same forum where then-President George W Bush made the case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Trump claimed in his speech that Tehran had “already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases abroad, and they are working on building missiles that will soon reach the United States”.
Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.
