Vance Flags Iran’s Nuke Risk As ‘Very Close’

Vice President JD Vance said Monday on Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” that Iran had been “very close” to completing a nuclear weapon prior to the U.S. strikes.

President Donald Trump took to Truth Social Saturday, announcing that the U.S. had a “very successful attack on the three nuclear sites in Iran.” This was days after he said he would decide within two weeks whether the U.S. would involve itself in the Israel-Iran conflict. Trump declared Monday evening that a ceasefire had been agreed upon between Israel and Iran. Baier asked Vance about the split within the GOP concerning U.S. involvement.

“I think the president has squared those two sides quite well. One, because he’s the leader of the movement, and a lot of people trust the president, as they should. They recognize they’re not seeing the same intelligence. They’re not seeing the same classified documents,” Vance said.

“They trust the president to do a good job. But, importantly, Brett, I think he’s threaded the needle quite well here,” Vance added. “We had a very particular objective. It was profound and difficult to accomplish the elimination of the Iranian nuclear program. I think the president successfully did that.”

Following the U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, some GOP lawmakers, like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, raised concerns about the potential of the U.S. entering an ongoing war with Iran. (RELATED: Megyn Kelly Guest Spells Out ‘Most Difficult’ Factor For Americans On Iran Showdown)

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While Trump had called for peace between Iran and Israel after revealing the U.S. strike, Iran retaliated, firing at the Al Udeid U.S. Air Base in Qatar. With no U.S. casualties and minimal damage to the base reported, Trump took to Truth Social in a series of posts saying that Iran had warned the U.S. prior to the attack.

Baier continued to press Vance on whether he believed the Iranians had been “close” to successfully creating a nuclear weapon.

“Bret, they were very close to a nuclear weapon,” Vance said. “And what I encourage my fellow Americans to think about here is that a week ago, the Iranians were quite close to achieving a nuclear weapon. Now they cannot build a nuclear weapon. That is the biggest testament to the president’s leadership and to the success of our mission.”

“In one week, without, thank God so far, not losing a single American casualty, we have taken what was a threatening nuclear program that could have destabilized the entire world. Now that program is gone,” Vance said. “We did it through effective presidential leadership and also some very, very competent work from our troops.”

After war broke out between Israel and Iran on June 12 following Israel’s preemptive strikes, U.S. involvement appeared possible as Israel vowed to continue fighting until Iran’s nuclear weapons program was eliminated.

Trump has long maintained that Iran should not gain control of nuclear weapons, telling reporters Wednesday that the demand in the conflict is Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”

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