Vice President Vance Warns Iran to Take US Threats Seriously

US Vice President JD Vance. (Wikimedia Commons/Gage Skidmore)

JAKARTA - US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday warned Iran to take Washington's threat of military action "seriously," a day after President Donald Trump appeared to build a case for war in his State of the Union address to the US Congress the day before.

Vice President Vance said that although President Trump would try to make Iran reach an agreement "diplomatically", the US President also had the "right" to use military action.

"You can't let the craziest and worst regime in the world have nuclear weapons," Vice President Vance told "America's Newsroom" on Fox News, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (26/2).

As US troops gather in the Middle East, President Trump claimed in his speech to Congress on Tuesday that Iran was seeking to develop missiles that could strike the United States.

President Trump also accused Tehran, whose negotiators will meet with US officials in Geneva on Thursday, of having "evil nuclear ambitions" and seeking to rebuild a nuclear program that was the target of a US strike last year.

Iran has repeatedly denied it seeks nuclear weapons, and dismissed President Trump's claims about its missile program as "a big lie."

"The president has a number of other tools he can use to make sure this doesn't happen," said Vice President Vance.

"He has shown a willingness to use it and I hope Iran takes it seriously in tomorrow's negotiations because that's what the president wants," he continued.

Vice President Vance said the Trump administration "hopes we can reach a good resolution without the military, but if we have to use the military, the president certainly has that right as well."

His comments came as the United States announced new sanctions targeting Iran, continuing what Washington calls a "maximum pressure" campaign.

Separately, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian earlier expressed an optimistic tone, saying there were "favorable prospects" for negotiations when Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his team arrived in Switzerland.

However, although President Trump said he preferred a diplomatic solution, he also laid out what appeared to be a justification for possible military action in his first state of the union address of his second term.

It is known that it was the same forum where then-president George W. Bush laid out the reasons for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

President Trump claimed in his speech that Tehran had "developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our overseas bases, and they are trying to build missiles that will soon reach the United States."

Washington also demanded that Iran agree that any future nuclear deal must remain in force indefinitely, according to a quote from Trump's chief of staff, Steve Witkoff, published in the Axios media in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.

Under the previous nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, which President Trump canceled during his first term in 2018, restrictions on Iran's nuclear program will expire in a few years.

Iran itself insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.