US Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday the United States could resume military action against Iran if a 60-day ceasefire collapsed without a peace agreement, warning Tehran against rebuilding its nuclear programme or threatening international shipping.
The remarks underscored Washington’s willingness to return to military force even as indirect negotiations aimed at ending weeks of conflict continue in Qatar.
“The president is not going to send our military back in unless he has to, unless there’s a clearly defined purpose for it,” Vance told reporters after speaking at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
“If we’ve got to do more, of course, that’s kind of up to the Iranians. If they try to rebuild their nuclear program, if they try to start shooting at commercial vessels again, that’s going to change our calculus,”US media reported.
Vance said President Donald Trump had instructed U.S. negotiators to pursue a diplomatic settlement while maintaining military options.
“What the president has said is, go and make a deal, go and negotiate in good faith, and that’s what he’s empowered us to do,” he said.
The United States and Iran have been observing a fragile ceasefire since April after seven weeks of U.S. military strikes against Iranian targets, launched over what the Trump administration said was Tehran’s advancing nuclear programme.
The two sides agreed to a 60-day negotiating window after reaching a preliminary understanding on June 17. Indirect talks, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan, are continuing in Doha, where U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and other officials are holding technical discussions with Iranian representatives.
Trump has repeatedly said preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remains Washington’s primary objective.
“The denuclearization of Iran is moving along well,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “They’ve had very good meetings, and we’ll see.”
Vance said the United States had already achieved its principal military objective.
“We have all the cards in the negotiation,” he told Fox News in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.
“We obviously want it to be successful, but even if it’s not successful, we’ve accomplished the core mission, which is to ensure that the Iranians never have a nuclear weapon.”
He also said on Wednesday that Trump “maintains a lot of options,” including the possibility of renewed air strikes should diplomacy fail.
Trump earlier joked that Vance would bear responsibility if negotiations collapsed.
“If it works out, I’m going to take the credit,” Trump told reporters this month. “If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD.”
With funeral ceremonies to begin on Friday for the late Supreme leader, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had opened a “new chapter” for the country, ahead of funeral ceremonies expected to begin later this week.
In a message released on Thursday, Pezeshkian said Khamenei’s death in U.S.-Israeli air strikes on Feb. 28 was “not the end of the road, but the beginning of a new chapter of solidarity, resilience and growth.”
He said the funeral would demonstrate Iran’s national unity and send a message that the country remained united in defending its sovereignty.
Iran also issued a fresh warning over the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil shipping routes.
meanwhile, Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said any U.S. attempt to interfere in security matters or disrupt navigation in the strategic waterway would trigger a “swift and decisive” military response.
“The Strait of Hormuz is not a playground for the aggressive United States, but territory under the sovereign authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the military headquarters said in a statement.
It said all oil tankers and commercial vessels must comply with navigation routes designated by Iranian authorities while transiting the strait, warning that vessels failing to follow Iran’s protocols would face an “immediate and decisive” response.
The headquarters also accused continued U.S. manned and unmanned military flights over the Strait of Hormuz of undermining regional security, saying Iran would not hesitate to defend what it described as its sovereign rights in the waterway.
The latest exchange of warnings highlights the fragile nature of the ceasefire and the high stakes surrounding negotiations, with renewed hostilities threatening both regional stability and global energy supplies.
