US Vice President Vance declines to set timeline for ending Iran conflict ahead of midterms

WASHINGTON, September 3. /TASS/. US Vice President JD Vance declined to specify whether Washington would end the war with Iran by the midterm elections scheduled for November.

"Our attitude is we're not going to set an artificial timeline," he told reporters at the White House. In this regard, the US vice president argued that it is incorrect to call the current phase of hostilities a war. "I wouldn't call it a war. Right now there is no active shooting," Vance emphasized. According to him, "major combat operations lasted for about six weeks." Vance stressed that the question now boils down to "when the Iranians will stop shooting at ships." "I think the reality is I don't know the answer to that question. You would have to ask the Iranians," the vice president stated.

In doing so, he essentially attempted to reverse cause and effect, expressing the opinion that only US actions can save the world from an energy crisis. "What we're going to do is use the tools that we have at our disposal to ensure that the American people, one, never have to deal with the threat of an Iranian nuclear program, and two, that world energy markets are properly supplied. <…> We're the only ones with the capability to ensure that the Iranians are not destroying world energy markets," Vance noted.

The US vice president declined to speculate on when gasoline prices in the US, which have skyrocketed in recent months due to the war with Iran and its repercussions on the global energy sector, might begin to fall. "I am not going to make promises about when it (gas prices in the US - TASS) is going to return to the [pre-war] $3 [per gallon, or 3.78 liters]," Vance stressed.

The US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28. In June, Washington and Tehran, with Islamabad acting as mediator, signed a memorandum of understanding providing for an immediate cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon. However, in the early morning hours of July 8, the US resumed large-scale strikes against Iran, accusing it of violating the terms of the agreements reached on the Strait of Hormuz. About 25% of the world's oil trade and approximately 20% of its liquefied natural gas pass through the strait. The US administration then effectively signaled that it would stop using large-scale military force against Iran and try to economically strangle the country through sanctions instead.

The US midterm elections will take place on November 3. One-third of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives are up for re-election. Currently, both chambers are controlled by the Republican Party.