Washington, Apr 15 (UNI) US Vice President JD Vance, speaking with optimism after returning from the failed high-level negotiations with Iran in Pakistan, said that talks between both nations have yielded much success, even though a final agreement currently remains out of reach.
Speaking at a Turning Point USA event, Vance said negotiators “made a ton of progress” over the weekend, while stressing that the administration is not pursuing a limited deal.
Instead, he described President Donald Trump’s objective as a sweeping “Trumpian grand bargain.”
According to Vance, such an agreement would focus on preventing the Islamic Republic from weaponising its nuclear programme, and halting support for groups designated by the US as terrorist organisations, including Hamas, and Hezbollah.
In return, it would open the path for reconnecting and integrating Tehran’s isolated economy with wider global markets, pointing towards a potential sanctions relief.
“I’m going to keep on fighting to make it happen,” Vance said, adding that despite long-standing mistrust, he believes Iranian negotiators are engaging seriously.
“I feel very good about where we are.”
Trump, speaking separately on Fox News, suggested the broader conflict will be reaching a decisive end soon. “I think it’s close to over, yeah… I view it as very close to over,” he said.
Pointing to the scale of damage inflicted on Iran during the conflict, which ranges from high-level decapitation strikes to massive military and civilian infrastructure damage, Trump argued that recovering from such damage would take decades.
“If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country,” Trump said, adding “I think they want to make a deal very badly.”
Despite the absence of a finalised agreement, Washington has expressed optimism over the prospects of diplomatic engagement, which as per Vance and Trump will advance further
