‘No US war in Middle East’: JD Vance says everything depends on ‘what Iranians do and say’

Amid the escalated tensions over the US-Iran nuclear deal, US Vice President JD Vance rejected the reports that an American strike against Tehran would lead to years of war in the Middle East. “The idea that we’re going to be in a Middle Eastern war for years with no end in sight - there is no chance that will happen," Vance said in an interview with The Washington Post. The US VP cited the airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last June and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as examples of “very clearly defined" military campaigns.

“I think we all prefer the diplomatic option. But it really depends on what the Iranians do and what they say," Vance said. He added that he did not know if Trump would decide on strikes “to ensure Iran isn’t going to get a nuclear weapon," or continue to seek to resolve “the problem diplomatically."

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This came amid the massive military buildup in the Middle East after the tensions escalated between Tehran and Washington. A satellite image obtained by the Chinese company Mizarvision showed 11 newly arrived US F-22 stealth fighter aircraft deployed at Ovda Air Base in southern Israel. The 5th-generation F-22 Raptor jets, which first appeared in imagery from Planet Labs on Wednesday, are the latest addition to the American military buildup in the Middle East amid the efforts by Donald Trump to secure a deal with Tehran.

The F-22 Raptor is a fighter jet designed for both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. The jet is America's first plane with “supercruise” abilities, meaning it can fly faster than the speed of sound for long periods without using the engine’s fuel-consuming afterburner.