US Vice President J.D. Vance on Thursday rejected the use of the word “war” to describe the US fighting with Iran, as he steered clear of predicting that the six-month-old conflict would be over by November’s midterm elections, in which Republicans are trying to hang on to their narrow majorities in Congress.
“I wouldn’t call it a war,” Vance said after being asked during a White House press briefing about whether the fighting could end before voters cast their ballots in the Nov. 3 congressional elections. “Right now, there is no active shooting.”
Vance’s assertion came even as Iran on Thursday fired at US Gulf ally Kuwait as it continued to retaliate for rounds of US strikes on Iran earlier in the week.
Photo: AP
The vice president said the US had a “responsibility” to carry out this week’s strikes because Iran continued to target commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Vance’s attempt to minimize the intensity of the fighting illuminates the difficult task at hand for US President Donald Trump and his administration as he tries to persuade American voters to keep Republicans in control of Congress, even as the unpopular conflict — one the White House said at its outset would last a matter of weeks — has driven up gas prices and left consumers grappling with higher inflation.
Vance said he did not want to set “artificial timelines.”
“But when you ask: ‘When will this end?’ You’re asking me a question like: ‘When will the Iranians stop shooting at ships?’” Vance said. “I think the reality is, I don’t know the answer to that question. You would have to ask the Iranians.”
The administration in July faced scrutiny after it reclassified four fallen soldiers as well as dozens of wounded troops in its Defense Casualty Analysis System, which Pentagon officials have repeatedly pointed to as the definitive source on the numbers of dead and wounded from the conflict. Those killed or wounded in fighting after a brief ceasefire between the US and Iran fell apart were classified in a new category called “Overseas Operations” after initially being tallied in the totals from the war.
Meanwhile, a US campaign to throttle Iran’s economy by blockading its oil exports and stopping sanctions evasion is growing increasingly difficult to withstand, three senior Iranian sources said.
Washington has in recent weeks sought to ratchet up the economic pressure on Tehran, in an effort to extract concessions in any future negotiation that six months of conflict have so far failed to secure.
Although Iran’s clerical rulers managed to bypass sanctions for decades, the latest US moves have left them in a far more sensitive position, with few remaining channels to secure foreign currency or buy goods, the sources said.
In particular, the effort to stop Iran accessing international financing networks in other countries it has long used to keep its economy functioning poses a real and urgent threat, the sources said.
Any sign the economic campaign might break a months-long deadlock in the conflict would likely cheer US planners, though Iran has also warned it could respond to the pressure with military escalation, raising the stakes at a key moment.
While more energy is flowing to international markets through the Strait of Hormuz despite Iranian efforts to continue disrupting the seaway, the US blockade of Iranian oil exports has entirely cut off Tehran’s main source of revenue.
Adding to Iran’s problems, the economy was already deep in crisis before the conflict, with a cratering currency and spiralling inflation, while months of bombing have run up a massive bill to rebuild damaged industry and infrastructure.
Iran’s financial squeeze is itself biting into its efforts to get around the sanctions regime, leaving less cash to pay the high premiums required to skirt sanctions illicitly, the sources said.
The rial has fallen to record lows over recent days and one senior source said Iran only has another two months’ supply of gasoline, which has to be imported despite domestic oil production because of limited refining capacity.
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