Trump Administration Weighs Diplomatic Deal or Military Restart on Iran Nuclear Issue

Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that the administration is pursuing a diplomatic deal with Iran while keeping military options available if nuclear talks collapse. Vance told reporters at a White House press briefing that President Trump instructed officials to negotiate aggressively with Iran.

He said the goal is a permanent agreement that prevents Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. "It takes two to tango," Vance told reporters at a White House press briefing. " The administration sees two paths forward. One is a negotiated agreement that permanently blocks Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

The other is renewed U.S. military action.

Vance described the military option as a restart of the campaign if diplomacy fails. He said this path is not what President Trump wants. "There's an option B, and the option B is that we could restart the military campaign to continue to prosecute the case," Vance said.

" Officials said they believe Iran wants to reach an agreement. Vance stated that the president asked the team to negotiate in good faith and that progress has been made.

Trump said he was close to ordering fresh attacks on Iran on Monday night before pausing the plan. He told reporters that discussions with Iran created a chance to avoid major strikes. "We were getting ready to do a very major attack, and I put it off for a little while — hopefully maybe forever," Trump said.

The comments follow a fragile ceasefire reached in mid-April. Trump has warned Iran that fighting could resume if it does not accept a deal. Over the weekend, Trump said Iran's clock is ticking and that it needed to move fast or there would not be anything left of them.