JD Vance Says He Wouldn’t Call Iran Conflict a War

Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Thursday that he would not call the military conflict with Iran a “war” at the moment, but conceded that he could not predict when it would end. Mr. Vance made the remarks at the lectern in the White House briefing room, the first person to deliver a briefing since Karoline Leavitt left as press secretary last week. His appearance was also the first briefing held by any administration official there in several weeks. When asked whether he believed the war in Iran that President Trump and Israeli officials began in February would be over by the midterm elections, Mr. Vance said, “I wouldn’t call it a war right now.” The vice president said there was “no active shooting,” and described strikes from both sides in the past few days as occasional flare-ups. His comments came a day after a particularly intense exchange of fire , with Iran accusing the United States of killing people at a wedding during a volley of strikes, and with the country launching attacks of its own on U.S. military assets across the Middle East. Mr. Trump has often been much more aggressive in describing the conflict with Iran, and has sounded increasingly bellicose about what he would do to the Middle East nation if it continued striking tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. But Mr. Vance suggested that Iran would decide when precisely the conflict would end. “I think the reality is: I don’t know the answer to that question,” Mr. Vance said. “You would have to ask the Iranians.” He also said that he was “skeptical” of reports by Iranian state media that U.S. strikes hit a wedding party and civilians in the past several days. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .