JD Vance: US-Iran talks progressing, military option remains

US Vice President JD Vance suggested on Tuesday that talks with Iran on ending the war between Washington and Tehran were going well.

It comes a day after US President Donald Trump said he had called off a planned attack on Iran at the request of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

What did Vance say about US-Iran talks?

"A lot of good progress is being made, but we're going to keep working on it, and eventually we'll either hit a deal or we won't," Vance said at a White House briefing.

Vance stressed that the US was ready to resume its military operations against Iran if no deal is reached.

"We're in a pretty good spot here — but there's an option B, and that option B is that we could restart the military campaign," Vance said. "We're locked and loaded."

He said that while the United States does not seek to resume the war with Iran, US President Donald Trump "is willing and able to go down that pathway if we have to."

"This is not a forever war," he said, using a term popularized among critics of the protracted nature of the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Trump was 'an hour away' from resuming strikes on Iran

Meanwhile, Trump said that he nearly decided to resume the military operations against Iran on Tuesday.

"I was an hour away from making the decision to go today," Trump told journalists at the White House.

The president stressed that a new US attack could come this week or the next if no deal is reached, but he did not give a concrete deadline.

The United States had demanded that Iran abandon its nuclear enrichment program and end its effective blockade of the crucial Strait of Hormuz, a major passage for global energy deliveries.

Iran is demanding reparations for the war and the cessation of all hostilities, including US ally Israel's offensive and bombing campaign in Lebanon.

Edited by: Rana Taha