In a lengthy post Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance defended President Donald Trump from critics on the right, including Tucker Carlson who don't want to see the country get involved in Israel's conflict with Iran.
"POTUS has been amazingly consistent, over 10 years, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," Vance said on X. "Over the last few months, he encouraged his foreign policy team to reach a deal with the Iranians to accomplish this goal. The president has made clear that Iran cannot have uranium enrichment. And he said repeatedly that this would happen in one of two ways--the easy way or the 'other' way."
Vance noted Iran could have civilian nuclear power without enrichment but has rejected it.
"They've enriched uranium far above the level necessary for any civilian purpose," Vance wrote. "They've been found in violation of their non-proliferation obligations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is hardly a rightwing organization."
The vice president said he has yet to see a single good argument as to why Iran needs to enrich uranium beyond civilian use and why Iran is justified in violating its nonproliferation obligations.
"The president has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military's focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens," Vance wrote. "He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president."
While Vance noted people are right to be skeptical about the country getting drawn into another foreign conflict, he said Trump has earned trust on the issue.
"I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people's goals," Vance said. "Whatever he does, that is his focus."
Kiersten Pels, the Republican National Committee National press secretary, noted Trump said more than 40 times on the campaign trail and more than a dozen times since taking office that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
"President Trump's No. 1 priority has been, and will always be, protecting the American people from any potential harm," Pels said. "President Trump said he wants to see peace and an end to the violence in the Middle East. That's why President Trump continues to say that Iran would be foolish to not make a deal. In April, President Trump gave Iran 60 days to make a deal. They failed to do this and are currently seeing the consequences."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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