Vice President JD Vance said, Tuesday morning in Hungary, that the war in Iran is coming to an end soon but “the nature of the conclusion is up to the Iranians.” “There are two pathways that this thing is ultimately going to end. First of all, the United States has largely accomplished its military objectives,” he said. “So that means, as the president has said, very shortly this war is going to conclude. And I think the nature of the conclusion is ultimately up to the Iranians.” “I think there really are two pathways, and I’m oversimplifying this a little bit,” he said. “But I think pathway one is where the Iranians decide they’re going to be a normal country.” “Option B is that 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 it will probably get worse.” “So I hope that they’re smart. The president has set a deadline for about 12 hours from now in the United States. We’re going to find out. But there’s going to be a lot of negotiation between now and then, and I’m hopeful that it gets to a good resolution,” he said. Here is the full event from this morning:

NATALIE ALLISON, THE WASHINGTON POST: The clock is ticking to tonight, when the deadline looms for avoiding bombing infrastructure in Iran to the Stone Age, as the president has said. Do you have any new information to believe that a deal can be reached by then? And secondly, there’s been some rhetoric from this administration about this war-God supporting the United States in this war, and the strikes against Iran being part of God’s will. Do you agree with that, and what do you make of the idea that God is on the side of the U.S. in these strikes? VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: Well, so you asked if there’s new information, and I don’t-unless I have a text message from Steve. 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 first before I talk about it. But here’s-what time is it in the United States right now? OK, that makes sense. All right. So, Natalie, on this question of the deal, I really think there are two pathways. The president’s been very clear about this. There are two pathways that this thing is ultimately going to end. First of all, the United States has largely accomplished its military objectives. There are still some things that we’d like to do-for example, on Iranian ability to manufacture weapons-that we’d like to do a little bit more work on militarily. But fundamentally, the military objectives of the United States have been completed. So that means, as the president has said, very shortly this war is going to conclude. And I think the nature of the conclusion is ultimately up to the Iranians. I think there really are two pathways, and I’m oversimplifying this a little bit. But 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. They’re going to be part of the world system of commerce and exchange, and that’s going to mean much better things for them economically. It’s going to mean better things for the peace and safety of the world. It’s going to mean a lot of good things for a lot of people all over the planet. That’s option A. Option B is that 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 it will probably get worse. And so what the president has asked his entire team to do-particularly Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner-is to figure out what are the contours of a potential deal. What are they willing to do? Because militarily, it frankly doesn’t matter one way or the other to us. It’s fundamentally a question of what this looks like afterwards, and that has been what the negotiations have been focused on. And the president’s also been very clear that while the Iranians are trying to exact as much economic cost through the Straits of Hormuz, the United States has the ability to extract much greater economic costs on Iran than Iran has the ability to extract on us or on our friends in the world. So I hope that they’re smart. The president has set a deadline for about 12 hours from now in the United States. We’re going to find out. But there’s going to be a lot of negotiation between now and then, and I’m hopeful that it gets to a good resolution. You know, the second question you asked about-is God on our side? Is God on whose side? 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. 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, Natalie. Next question.

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