Vice President JD Vance stated that the United States holds a dominant position in the ongoing negotiations with Iran, asserting that the Trump administration has already accomplished its core objective. Vance emphasized that the U.S. possesses "all the cards" in the current talks taking place in the Middle East.
"We have all the cards in the negotiation," Vance said in an exclusive interview. "We obviously want it to be successful, but even if it's not successful, we've accomplished the core mission, which is to ensure that the Iranians never have a nuclear weapon."
He described the situation as a "win-win outcome for the American people." According to Vance, successful negotiations would lead to Iran being "permanently transformed" without nuclear ambitions and ceasing its funding of proxy groups operating in the Middle East. Under such conditions, Iran could be reintegrated into the global economy.
"That's a great outcome for the American people. It's a greater outcome for the whole region," Vance added. "But if, on the other hand, the Iranians don't behave, if they don't make the concessions in the negotiations that we need to see, their nuclear program is still destroyed, their conventional military is still destroyed and the United States is still in a much stronger position relative to the Iranians."
Vance's comments follow the arrival of U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Qatar for discussions with mediators. Reports indicate that no high-level meeting between Washington and Tehran is scheduled.
Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed Tuesday that, to his knowledge, "There are no direct meetings scheduled between the two parties in the coming days." White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had previously stated on "Fox & Friends" that Iran had requested talks, a sentiment echoed by other members of the Trump administration, including President Donald Trump.