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Vance: ‘No chance’ any Iran strikes would lead to long war in Middle East

27 February 2026 09:45 (UTC +04:00)

Vice President Vance on Thursday defended the U.S. potentially launching military strikes on Iran, saying there was “no chance” that it would lead to a longer war in the Middle East, APA reports.

Vance said in an interview with The Washington Post that the strikes would be a deterrent to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon unless the issue is solved diplomatically.

“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,” he said.

The vice president said he does not know how President Trump will act on Iran, saying that he and the president are “skeptic[s] of foreign military interventions.”

Vance chuckled when the Post asked if he, given the Marine veteran’s past criticisms of the Iraq War, could have seen himself as part of an administration interested in bringing about regime change. He said that life “has all kinds of crazy twists and turns” and said Trump is an “America First president.”

“I do think we have to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past,” Vance added. “I also think that we have to avoid overlearning the lessons of the past. Just because one president screwed up a military conflict doesn’t mean we can never engage in military conflict again. We’ve got to be careful about it, but I think the president is being careful.”

Vance reiterated that the administration prefers a diplomatic outcome to the current standoff. But, he said, that “depends on what the Iranians do and what they say.”