Jason Riley: Vance Was Right To Say Spelling Out A Timeline Would Be A Strategic Blunder
A ‘Special Report’ All-Star panel analyzes Vice President JD Vance’s statements on U.S.-Iran relations, the potential impact of an Iran war on gas prices.
BRET BAIER, ‘SPECIAL REPORT’ ANCHOR: Yes. Jason, one think that we’ve been talking about is the economic sanctions and the pressure on Iran. We’re not the only ones covering it. Reuters says the “U.S. pressure on Iran is starting to tell. Although Iran’s cleric rulers managed to bypass sanctions for decades, the latest moves have left them in a far more sensitive position with few remaining channels to secure foreign currency or buy goods. The effort to stop Iran accessing international financing networks in other countries it has long used to keep its economy functioning poses and real and urgent threat.” JASON RILEY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I think the vice president was pretty honest about why we have high gas prices. And I thought he did well, though, to prioritize things and explain that there are bigger things at stake here. He said that this — he said let’s remember, this is about deterring Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, which can’t happen. And things like high gas prices may be the cost of us going in and doing what we need to do to stop that nuclear program from going forward. I also think he was right to say, you know, spelling out a timeline would be a strategic blunder. Giving the adversary a heads-up on what we’re going to do and when we are going to do it is not a smart thing to do. And finally, I’d say with respect to his comments in Iran, is he did not rule out arming dissidents when he was asked about that, which I also think is a good signal and something that I think the mullahs will be paying attention to. This is something, as I’ve said before, it’s a war I don’t think is going to come to an end based on negotiations. I think negotiations are not going to get very far with Iran. They haven’t in the past, and I don’t see any reason why they would now. And we may have to escalate militarily again. We probably will. And it sounds like the vice president was saying we’re prepared to do that if we have to.
