US strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island do not represent a shift in American strategy, Vice President JD Vance has said, insisting Washington is still keeping a diplomatic window open even as US-Israeli deadly strikes continue to hit Iran.
He said the latest attack was consistent with existing objectives and voiced hope that negotiations could still prevent the use of further options available to the White House.
“I don’t think the news in Kharg Island represents a change in strategy or represents any change from the president of the US,” Vance said during a visit to Hungary on Tuesday.
He added that the US had “largely accomplished its military objectives” and that “there’s going to be a lot of negotiation between now and then” before President Donald Trump’s deadline expires at 0000 GMT tonight.
Vance coupled that message with a warning that Washington still retained escalation options.
“They’ve got to know we’ve got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use. The president of the United States can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct,” he said.
Kharg Island
The remarks came after US strikes on Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub.
Power was cut off on Iran’s Kharg Island following a wave of US strikes targeting more than 50 sites, according to US and Iranian media reports.
Iranian outlets said the power outage came after heavy US attacks on the island.
The Wall Street Journal said that US fighter jets bombed more than 50 military targets on the Iranian island.
Iran’s Mehr News Agency earlier said that US and Israeli warplanes carried out several air strikes on the island, causing multiple explosions.
Tehran has so far rejected a temporary truce proposal, instead demanding a permanent end to hostilities, guarantees against further US strikes, sanctions relief and compensation for damage inflicted during the war.
Trump threats
Trump has sought to sharpen that pressure with increasingly explicit threats.
Over the weekend and again on Monday, he warned that if Iran failed to reopen the Strait by Tuesday, the US could strike bridges and power stations across the country.
In one message, he said there would be no “power plants” and no “bridges standing” if Tehran did not move before the deadline.
Trump also issued a stark warning to Iran, declaring that American forces could “take out” the entire nation in a single night.
At least two people were killed and three others wounded in a US-Israeli air strike on a railway bridge in Iran’s Kashan, as Iranian officials reported damage to at least two bridges, railway infrastructure and a key highway, hours before Trump’s deadline expired.
