US Vice President Says Iran Conflict Is Not a War

J.D. Vance says he would not call the conflict with Iran a war. “I wouldn’t call it a war. There’s not active shooting right now,” the U.S. vice president told reporters at the White House.

His comments came as signs grew that President Donald Trump was trying to bring the conflict to an end. Vance acknowledged that “there were places where things escalated,” but said major combat operations had lasted only six weeks after the U.S.- and Israel-initiated war began on Feb. 28.

“

I wouldn’t call it a war. There’s not active shooting right now.

Asked whether the conflict would end before the U.S. midterm elections in November, Vance said he did not know when Iran would stop firing on ships and suggested reporters ask the Iranians. He also insisted that the United States would not resume negotiations with Tehran until it stopped attacks on commercial shipping.

“

Their control of the Strait of Hormuz is effectively over.

The remarks followed new clashes after several weeks of calm. Iran continues to hold the strategic Strait of Hormuz in its grip, while the Trump administration has sought to convey that oil flows through the waterway have returned close to prewar levels. “Their control of the Strait of Hormuz is effectively over,” Vance said, claiming that almost no oil and gas had passed through the strait three months earlier but that volumes were now nearly back to normal.

Trump’s approval ratings are approaching record lows as the president faces difficulty over the conflict after promising not to involve the United States in more foreign wars. Eighteen U.S. service members and thousands of people in Iran and Lebanon have died since February. Iran said it attacked U.S. bases in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for a strike at a wedding. Vance said Washington was investigating the strike but expressed skepticism about Iranian state media’s account.

“

I know that we are conducting an investigation.