Washington DC — US Vice President JD Vance has repeated the Trump administration’s nuclear warning to Iran, telling reporters at the White House that the US will never allow Tehran to acquire a nuclear weapon, which he claimed could spark a nuclear arms race.
“We want to keep the number of countries that have nuclear weapons small, and that’s why Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Vance told a media briefing on Tuesday.
Vance stressed that a nuclear Iran would be the “first domino” in a dangerous arms race, claiming Gulf nations and others worldwide would seek their own nukes, undoing a major success of US foreign policy.
“It is not just that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon; it’s what would happen if Iranians did get a nuclear weapon. A lot of nations across the Gulf would then want their own nuclear weapon. What has been a very bright spot of American foreign policy would disappear overnight,” Vance said.
Nine countries currently possess nuclear weapons: Russia, US, China, France, UK, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea. Together, these nations hold an estimated global inventory of roughly 12,100 nuclear warheads, with Russia and US accounting for nearly 90 percent of the total, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Vance’s remarks come amid shaky US-Iran negotiations and 43-day truce following earlier war and a Trump administration decision to pause planned strikes.
The Iranian government is demanding that the US pay billions of dollars in reconstruction costs, fully withdraw its troops from the region, and permit its nuclear programme —demands that the US has described as non-starters.
US joined Israel in attacking Iran on February 28, with strikes quickly killing the longtime supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and much of the other top brass.
Tehran responded by asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz and launching missile and drone strikes on Gulf Arab states hosting US assets, disrupting regional energy flows.
Ahead of Vance’s media briefing, US President Donald Trump offered a deadline of several days for resuming attacks if a deal was not agreed.
“I’m saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something, maybe early next week, a limited period of time,” he told reporters at the White House.
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