Vance: Iran Endgame Will Be "Messy," But America Will Finish the Job

Vice President JD Vance acknowledged that negotiations and efforts to end the conflict with Iran will not be quick or simple, but insisted the Trump administration remains confident that the United States will achieve its strategic objectives and prevent Tehran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon. His remarks came during an interview Wednesday on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle.

Vance said Americans may become frustrated as negotiations experience advances followed by setbacks, but argued that complex diplomacy often unfolds that way.

"If people want to make me own the effort to try to bring this war to a successful conclusion, I'm happy to let them make me own it," Vance told host Laura Ingraham, adding that progress may involve "one step forward, two steps back, then three steps forward and one step back."

The vice president said Iran's political system remains deeply divided, with some officials seeking an end to the conflict while others continue pushing confrontation.

"Our job is to navigate through that and get the best outcome for the American people," Vance said, describing Iran as having a fractured leadership structure that complicates negotiations.

Despite acknowledging the difficult road ahead, Vance expressed confidence that the administration's strategy will ultimately strengthen America's position in the Middle East.

"I think where we will ultimately land—it's going to be messy and it's going to take some time to get there—is oil prices are going to come down and stay down, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and the United States will be in a stronger position," he said.

Vance emphasized that President Donald Trump's administration intends to employ every instrument of national power—including military deterrence, economic pressure, and diplomacy—to reach what he called the right resolution.

"We're going to use all the tools that we have, military, economic, and diplomatic, to make sure we bring this thing to the right resolution," Vance said.

The remarks underscore the administration's position that negotiations with Tehran are unlikely to produce immediate results but that Washington intends to maintain pressure until Iran's nuclear ambitions are permanently neutralized. Administration officials continue to argue that preventing a nuclear-armed Iran remains a non-negotiable U.S. national security objective.

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