Vice President JD Vance implored leaders in Iran to respond promptly to President Donald Trump‘s demand for a ceasefire deal by 8 p.m. Tuesday to avoid the unnecessary loss of innocent life.
While speaking at a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Vance said that the end of the war in Tehran “is ultimately up to the Iranians.”
But as Vance was pushing for Tehran to negotiate, roughly 4,600 miles in Washington, Trump issued a menacing threat.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” he wrote on Truth Social. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
His vice president, meanwhile, was busy telling reporters that he had received a text message from special envoy Steve Witkoff after a journalist asked Vance about a report that the United States had struck Iran’s Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf overnight.
“I do have a text message from Steve Witkoff. Wouldn’t you like to know the subject of this message? But no, I need to read it,” Vance told reporters.
Later, the vice president said the strikes on Kharg Island do not represent “a change in strategy, or represent any change for the president of the United States.”
Vance also said there were two options for Iran to choose to conclude the war that began on Feb. 28.
“I think pathway one is where the Iranians decide they’re going to be a normal country. They’re not going to fund terrorism anymore,” Vance said. “Option B is, if the Iranians don’t come to the table and they stay committed to terrorism, to terrorizing their neighbors, not just Israel, but, of course, their Arab neighbors too, then the economic situation in Iran is going to continue to be very, very bad, and frankly, will probably get worse.”
It was unclear whether Vance had seen Trump’s Truth Social post as he was speaking on the Iran war.
Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz has driven up energy prices not just in the U.S. but globally. Orban alluded to the energy problems facing the European Union over the past five weeks during his opening remarks to the press.
“We also discussed the fact that Europe is heading towards one of the worst energy crises of all times, we are seeing drastic price hikes,” Orban said. “And if we do not take measures on time, we are going to see a shortage of energy, oil, and gas. And in this situation, it is especially important that we have the energy cooperation between the U.S. and Hungary.”
Vance, who is reportedly on standby for negotiations, appeared more positive that Tehran and Washington would find a way to de-escalate tensions before the 8 p.m. deadline.
“I hope that they’re smart. The president has set a deadline for about 12 hours from now in the United States,” he said. “We’re going to find out. … There’s going to be a lot of negotiation between now and then, and I’m hopeful that it gets to a good resolution.”
The vice president, however, did concede that Terhan is not a fast negotiator, which could slow down negotiations somewhat.
“One thing I will say is that the Iranians are not — they were not the fastest negotiators before the war started. They are certainly not the fastest negotiators now,” he said. “So we recognize there’s some delay sometimes in transmitting messages from one person to another, but we feel confident that we can get a response, whether it’s positive or negative, we’re going to get a response from the Iranians by eight o’clock tonight.”
During a press conference on Monday, Trump claimed the U.S. has divine assistance in its battle against Tehran, after the heroic rescue of U.S. airmen over the weekend.
“We were in Easter territory, I guess, but God was watching us,” Trump told reporters while speaking in the White House press briefing room.
Vance was also asked about whether he believed God supports the U.S. as it has released airstrikes against Tehran.
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“I think my attitude towards military conflict has always been to pray that we’re on God’s side, and my own view is that we’re doing this for the right reasons,” Vance said. “We’re doing this because we don’t want a regime that has committed acts of terrorism to have the world’s most dangerous weapon, because that would mean a lot of innocent people dead.”
“I certainly hope that God agrees with the decision that Iran shouldn’t have a nuclear weapon, but I’ll keep praying about it, and if He gives me a good answer, you’ll be the first to know,” he added.