Vice President JD Vance is scrambling to rein in President Donald Trump as he weighs whether to strike Iran.
Vance, 41, is leading a group of senior administration officials who are trying to put the brakes on Trump, 79, and convince him to engage in diplomacy with the country’s regime, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing U.S. officials.
But Trump, who launched strikes against Venezuela and abducted the country’s president earlier this month, is leaning towards striking Iran in retaliation for the regime’s violent crackdown on protesters during the ongoing uprising, according to the officials.
The self-proclaimed “peace president” told reporters on Sunday that “a meeting is being set up” with Tehran to discuss curbing its nuclear program, but nonetheless said the U.S. was looking at “very strong options.”
“Iran wants to negotiate, yes. We might meet with them,” he said. “But we may have to act, because of what is happening, before the meeting.”
Trump and Vance ran in 2024 on the “America First” slogan, promising to end U.S. involvement in so-called forever wars.
But Trump has repeatedly strayed from that promise in his second term and faced backlash from some MAGA supporters after he ordered U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June.
He is set to meet with senior aides Tuesday to weigh his next steps, which could range from launching cyber attacks to new sanctions or military strikes, the Journal reported.
He announced on Monday that he had slapped a 25 percent tariff on countries that do business with the Islamic Republic.
Some officials are reportedly worried that Trump could feed the Iranian regime’s propaganda that the U.S. and Israel are orchestrating the protests if he strikes the country.
Meanwhile, Iran’s clerical regime has said that it is ready to retaliate with attacks against Israel and all U.S. military bases and ships in the region, should the Trump strike the country.
“We are not looking for war, but we are prepared for war,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday, The New York Times reported.
“We are also ready for negotiations, but negotiations that are fair, with equal rights and mutual respect.”
The protests began in late December over Iran’s collapsing currency, and have grown into widespread demonstrations against the country’s clerical leadership that came to power in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
At least 646 protesters, including nine children, have been killed over more than two weeks of protests, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
