Speaking during an with ABC on Sunday, June 22, 2025, Vance clarified the U.S. position amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
“We’re not at war with Iran. We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program,” he said. “And the president took decisive action to destroy that program last night.”
When asked if the strikes had completely dismantled Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Vance said:
“Whether it’s years or beyond that, we know it’s going to be a very long time before Iran can even build a nuclear weapon if they want to.”
President Donald Trump, in a national address on Saturday night, claimed the strikes had “completely and totally obliterated” key nuclear enrichment facilities.
Vance, however, emphasized that assessments were still ongoing.
“I can say to the American people with great confidence that they are much further away from the nuclear program today than they were 24 hours ago,” Vance said. “That was the objective of the mission — to destroy that Fordo nuclear site and, of course, do some damage to the other sites as well. But we feel very confident that the Fordo nuclear site was substantially set back, and that was our goal.”
Asked about Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, Vance said the administration is taking the matter seriously and plans to address it through discussions and strategic planning in the coming weeks.
On the possibility of Iranian retaliation, Vance warned:
“If Iran decides to expand this, then that’s ultimately their decision. The president of the United States will respond in kind. But if you look at what we did, it was very precise and narrowly tailored to our objective — eliminating the nuclear threat.”
Vance also dismissed any notion of seeking regime change in Tehran.
“Regime change is not our goal,” he stated. “Our only objective is to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program. That’s what the president has set us out to do.”
