Vance: US ‘very close’ to peace deal with Iran

Speaking hours before US strikes on Iran in retaliation for downing attack helicopter, vice president says the two countries are on the verge of a diplomatic breakthrough.

By World Israel News Staff

Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration is “very close” to reaching a long-term agreement with Iran aimed at addressing Tehran’s nuclear program, while President Donald Trump separately said a deal could come within days.

Vance made the comments in an interview with CBS News’ Robert Costa scheduled to air on “CBS Sunday Morning.” Portions of the interview were released Tuesday.

“Right now, I feel that we are in a position to get a deal that is good for the United States economically and that really does deal with the Iranian nuclear program, not just now, not just while Donald Trump is president, but for the long term, to where my kids can say when they’re adults, ‘Iran is not going to have a nuclear weapon,’” Vance said.

“That’s the goal of the policy. And I think we’re very close to achieving that goal. But we still got some wood to chop. We’re going to keep doing it.”

Vance said a deal could come soon but did not give a fixed timetable.

“I think we’re going to know a lot before the midterm elections,” he said. “Look, I think that the deal could happen in the next week, but the deal could also happen months from now.”

Trump also suggested Tuesday that negotiations were near completion, telling reporters that talks with Iran were in the “final throes” and that an agreement could come in “two or three days.”

The interview was conducted just hours before the US launched a wave of strikes on Iranian targets in retaliation for the downing of an American helicopter a day earlier.

Trump said Tuesday that Iran had shot down a US Apache helicopter that crashed near the Strait of Hormuz. The two crew members were rescued and were not injured.

“The pilots are fine,” Trump said. “Nobody injured. We are going to issue a report tomorrow. But the pilots are fine.”

Axios reported last month that negotiators had reached an understanding on the draft document, but that Trump had not yet given final approval. Vance said at the time that the sides were still working through language issues and that he could not guarantee a deal would be completed.

The administration has said the central US objective is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Vance said that goal may not fully align with all of Israel’s objectives.

“The Israelis and the United States, we have a lot of shared interests. But we also have some situations where our interests diverge,” Vance said in separate comments to Fox News.

“I think where the president has been very clear here is that while Israel obviously has some objectives that it has, the United States’ main objective in Iran is to ensure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

“Now, Israel may like that, they may not like that, but fundamentally, we think this is in the best interest of the United States of America,” Vance added.