In a Reuters interview after an Alaska campaign stop, the vice president said Tehran must make a meaningful cut in enrichment, not a promise of future drawdowns.
Vice President JD Vance said Iran must make a meaningful reduction in its nuclear enrichment capacity to satisfy US demands and end the seven-month war, in an exclusive Reuters interview published this week. He spoke on Monday after a campaign trip in Alaska.
Any agreement would require an actual cut in enrichment capacity rather than assurances of future drawdowns, he said. "If you don't want a nuclear weapon, then why do you need 60 percent enriched fuel?" Vance said. "We're not going to trade words for actions."
He said Washington is not totally clear how Iran makes decisions after the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes at the start of the war, The Independent reported from the Reuters interview. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that a central problem is that no one knows who is running Iran.
Vance said the United States remained open to an agreement but would require concrete nuclear concessions. Trump has rejected Tehran's latest offer and has warned that military operations could intensify after the midterms, The Times of Israel reported from the same interview.
The comments are a US negotiating position, not a signed term. Iranian officials were not quoted in the reports used here.
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- Vance asked why Iran needed 60 percent enriched fuel if it does not want a nuclear weapon.
- He said the United States will not trade words for actions.
- Trump said no one knows who is running Iran.