US Vice President JD Vance declines to offer timeline for end of Iran war

The Trump official has expressed scepticism at a White House briefing about the conflict even being a war, despite a recent flare-up.

US Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press briefing on September 3 at the White House in Washington, DC, the United States [Brendan Smialowski/AFP]

United States Vice President JD Vance has declined to offer a prospective timeline for the end of the US-Israeli war on Iran, which remains a source of surging global energy prices and unpopularity at home.

Vance sought to downplay the fallout from the war in a White House news briefing on Thursday. He even questioned how to refer to the conflict.

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“I wouldn’t call it a war. Right now, there is no active shooting,” Vance said, before clarifying. “I recognise there have been places where this has flared up.”

His remarks come after days of intense fire between the US and Iran. Still, Vance argued that major combat operations only lasted “about six weeks” and that the US has succeeded in degrading Iran’s defence production capabilities.

He also sought to turn attention to the Strait of Hormuz , a focal point of the war, accusing Iran of preventing the flow of traffic through the vital trade route.

“When you ask, ‘When will this end?’, you’re asking me a question like: When will the Iranians stop shooting at ships?” Vance told reporters.

“I think the reality is, I don’t know the answer to that question. You’d have to ask the Iranians.”

Prior to the outbreak of war on February 28, traffic flowed freely through the strait. But after the US and Israel launched an initial volley of attacks that month, Iran closed the waterway to commercial vessels, in a blow to the global fossil fuel trade.

Roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas flowed through the Strait of Hormuz prior to the war.

Vance, however, argued that US military operations against Iran were helping create the conditions for increased oil shipments through the strait.

He also asserted that a new deal transferring control of 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves to the US would help lower global oil costs.

“When will the Iranians shooting at ships stop having an effect on world energy markets? The answer is it has less effect day by day,” Vance said.

Vance also chided US allies for not doing more to contribute to the war, crediting US President Donald Trump with singlehandedly preventing a larger energy crisis.

“What we’re doing right now is protecting commercial shipping in order to ensure that we don’t have a worldwide energy crisis,” Vance said.

“The only reason we don’t have an energy crisis is because of the leadership of the president but also because of the fine work of our military.”

When asked about a US attack that reportedly struck a wedding party in the coastal Iranian city of Sirik, Vance said the military was investigating the incident. But he added that he was “extremely sceptical” of accounts about the attack from the Iranian government.

“We’re investigating it because obviously we care. We want to know,” Vance told reporters at the White House. “When our military makes mistakes, they learn from them to try to get better from them.”

The attack is reported to have killed at least five people, including children, and injured nearly 70 more.

Human rights advocates, however, have pointed out that the US has denied responsibility for past attacks that have killed civilians around the world. Victims have few ways of seeking accountability.

The US military has said of the incident that it “never targets civilians”.

The Trump administration also denied responsibility for an air strike on an Iranian elementary school in Minab that killed more than 150 people, most of them schoolchildren, on the first day of the war.

Evidence reviewed by US media and international observers suggests the use of a US Tomahawk missile.

Thousands of people have been killed in Iran since the war began, as well as around the Middle East, in places like Lebanon.

Some 18 US service members have also been killed, with 750 more wounded, as of August.

But at the White House briefing, reporters pressed Vance about reports that at least one widow of a fallen service member was not receiving the full benefits given to the families of those who die on active duty.

Libby Klinner, the widow of the late Air Force Major John “Alex” Klinner, posted in August that the benefits were withheld because “we haven’t officially declared war” on Iran.

Vance, a veteran himself, pledged to reach out to her directly after the briefing. “Our heart breaks for every single person who lost their lives in this operation,” he said.

尽管最近冲突有所升级，但特朗普政府官员在白宫简报会上对这场冲突是否算得上战争表示怀疑。

美国副总统JD Vance于9月3日在华盛顿特区白宫举行的新闻发布会上发表讲话。[Brendan Smialowski/AFP]

美国副总统万斯拒绝给出美以对伊朗战争何时结束的预期时间表，这场战争仍然是全球能源价格飙升和美国国内不受欢迎的原因之一。

周四，万斯在白宫新闻发布会上试图淡化战争的影响。他甚至质疑应该如何称呼这场冲突。

伊朗红新月会敦促国际刑事法院调查美国对婚礼派对的致命袭击（共3条，此为第1条）。

列表 2/3：有多少石油通过霍尔木兹管道输送？为什么数据与美国的说法不符？

列表 3/3：特朗普称媒体报道伊朗战争弹药短缺是“叛国败类”

“我不会称之为战争。目前，没有发生枪击事件，”万斯说道，随后又补充道，“我承认有些地方局势已经紧张起来。”

他的这番言论是在美伊两国连续数日激烈交火之后发表的。不过，万斯辩称，大规模作战行动只持续了“大约六周”，而且美国已经成功削弱了伊朗的国防生产能力。

他还试图将人们的注意力转移到战争的焦点——霍尔木兹海峡，指责伊朗阻止了这条重要贸易路线的交通。

“当你问‘这一切何时才能结束？’时，你实际上是在问我：‘伊朗人何时才能停止向船只开火？’”万斯告诉记者。

“我认为现实情况是，我不知道这个问题的答案。你得去问伊朗人。”

在2月28日战争爆发之前，海峡交通畅通无阻。但在美国和以色列当月发动第一轮袭击后，伊朗关闭了这条水道，禁止商船通行，这对全球化石燃料贸易造成了沉重打击。

战前，全球约五分之一的石油和天然气经由霍尔木兹海峡运输。

然而，万斯认为，美国对伊朗的军事行动正在为通过海峡增加石油运输创造条件。

他还断言，将委内瑞拉 650 亿桶石油储备的控制权移交给美国的新协议将有助于降低全球石油成本。

“伊朗向船只开火对世界能源市场的影响何时才会停止？答案是，它的影响正在日益减弱，”万斯说道。

万斯还指责美国盟友没有为这场战争做出更多贡献，并称赞美国总统唐纳德·特朗普凭借一己之力阻止了一场更大的能源危机。

“我们现在所做的是保护商业航运，以确保我们不会面临全球能源危机，”万斯说。

“我们之所以没有出现能源危机，唯一的原因在于总统的领导，也在于我们军队的出色工作。”

当被问及据称美国在伊朗沿海城市锡里克袭击一场婚礼​​的事件时，万斯表示军方正在调查此事。但他补充说，他对伊朗政府关于此次袭击的说法“极其怀疑”。

“我们正在调查此事，因为我们很关心。我们想知道真相，”万斯在白宫告诉记者。“我们的军队犯错时，会从中吸取教训，力求做得更好。”

据报道，此次袭击造成至少五人死亡，其中包括儿童，另有近70人受伤。

然而，人权倡导者指出，美国否认对过去造成世界各地平民死亡的袭击事件负有责任。受害者几乎没有途径追究责任。

美国军方就此事表示，“他们从不以平民为目标”。

特朗普政府还否认对战争第一天发生在米纳布的伊朗小学空袭事件负责，该事件造成 150 多人死亡，其中大部分是学童。

美国媒体和国际观察员审查的证据表明，使用了美国战斧导弹。

自战争爆发以来，伊朗以及中东其他地区（如黎巴嫩）已有数千人丧生。

截至8月，已有约18名美国军人丧生，另有750人受伤。

但在白宫简报会上，记者们就有关至少有一名阵亡军人遗孀没有获得现役军人家属应得的全部福利的报道，向万斯施压。

已故空军少校约翰·“亚历克斯”·克林纳的遗孀莉比·克林纳在 8 月份发帖称，福利被扣留是因为“我们还没有正式对伊朗宣战”。

身为退伍军人的范斯承诺，简报会结束后会直接与她联系。“我们为在这次行动中丧生的每一个人感到无比悲痛，”他说。