Vance calls Iran’s leaders ‘really crazy’ as US focuses on keeping Hormuz open

Vice President Vance says Iran behaving irrationally, suggesting its leadership is “really crazy,” following the first military clashes between the US and Iran since July.

By World Israel News Staff

Vice President JD Vance sharply criticized Iran’s leadership Monday, describing its conduct during the six-month conflict as irrational and saying Washington’s immediate military focus has increasingly shifted toward protecting commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Vance said the war had reinforced his view that Iran’s leaders were prepared to take extraordinary risks even when their actions hurt countries friendly to Tehran.

“I think that what I’ve learned is these guys are really, really … they’re really crazy,” Vance said, adding that some of Tehran’s decisions appeared to be made “not with a whole lot of strategic wisdom behind it.”

Vance said that Iran has sought to restrict the movement of oil and gas through the Persian Gulf even when doing so harms its own partners.

He said US operations have consequently entered a stage in which maintaining navigation and commerce through the Strait of Hormuz is a central objective.

His comments followed a renewed burst of direct fighting between the US and Iran after roughly a month without acknowledged American strikes inside the country. US forces hit two Iranian launchers on Larak Island on Sunday after American officials said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel were preparing weapons capable of deploying sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles at US forces stationed in Jordan. American officials said nearly all of the incoming missiles were intercepted and no significant damage was initially reported. Iranian authorities said the US attack on Larak killed several people and vowed retaliation.

President Donald Trump subsequently warned that Tehran could face another American response.

“We’re going to hit them hard,” Trump said. “There will be a response.” At the same time, Trump indicated that he did not regard the latest exchange as necessarily signaling a return to the more intensive stages of the war.

The renewed fighting comes as control of the Strait of Hormuz remains at the center of the confrontation. Before the war, the narrow waterway carried roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies.

The Trump administration says US forces have cleared Iranian mines from international shipping lanes and are escorting commercial vessels through the area, although traffic remains far below normal levels.

Preliminary ship-tracking data released Tuesday showed only about five visible commodity vessels passing through the strait on Monday, compared with a 10-day average of roughly 14.

Four entered the waterway and one departed, while no liquid tankers were recorded among the vessels making the passage. Ships operating with transponders switched off were not included in the figures.

The latest military exchange immediately affected energy markets. Brent crude settled Monday at $90.49 a barrel, up $2.39, or 2.71%, while West Texas Intermediate gained $2.36 to finish at $85.76. The jump reflected renewed fears that fighting around Hormuz could further restrict energy exports from the Gulf.

Washington has simultaneously intensified its economic campaign against Tehran.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the purpose of the sanctions pressure is “to create the conditions that they will want to come to the table” for negotiations.

The administration has begun imposing additional secondary sanctions aimed at entities doing business with Iran while maintaining a blockade targeting Iranian exports.

Vance also addressed Trump’s unusual social media post over the weekend depicting explosions at Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil-export hub.

The video accompanying the post was AI-generated, and a US official said no American strike on Kharg had occurred. Vance said Trump was “sending a message to the Iranians” rather than announcing an actual attack.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, continued to publicly call for a negotiated settlement despite the renewed exchange of fire, saying Monday that continued fighting was in neither Iran’s nor the region’s interest.

IranJD Vance