The Trump administration on Sunday signalled a willingness to renew talks with Iran and avoid a prolonged war in the aftermath of a surprise attack on three of the country’s nuclear sites as US officials assessed Tehran's nuclear ambitions and the threat of retaliation against American interests.
President Donald Trump, who had addressed the nation from the White House on Saturday night, allowed his national security team to speak for him the next morning, staying quiet on social media and scheduling no public appearances.
According to AP, the coordinated messaging by his vice president, Pentagon chief, top military adviser and secretary of state suggested a confidence that any fallout from the attack would be manageable and that Iran’s lack of military capabilities would ultimately force it back to the bargaining table.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a news conference that America “does not seek war” with Iran while Vice President JD Vance said the strikes have given Tehran the possibility of returning to negotiate with Washington.
“Operation Midnight Hammer, involved decoys and deception, and met with no Iranian resistance, according to Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“This mission was not and has not been about regime change,” Hegseth added. Caine said the goal of the operation — destroying nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan — had been achieved.
“Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,” Caine said.
Vance said in a television interview that while he would not discuss “sensitive intelligence about what we’ve seen on the ground,” he felt “very confident that we’ve substantially delayed their development of a nuclear weapon.”
Iranian parliament votes to close Strait of Hormuz following US strikes
Pressed further, he told NBC's “Meet the Press” that “I think that we have really pushed their program back by a very long time. I think that it’s going to be many many years before the Iranians are able to develop a nuclear weapon.”
The vice president said the U.S. had “negotiated aggressively’ with Iran to try to find a peaceful settlement and that Trump made his decision after assessing the Iranians were not acting “in good faith.”
"I actually think it provides an opportunity to reset this relationship, reset these negotiations and get us in a place where Iran can decide not to be a threat to its neighbors, not to a threat to the United States and if they’re willing to do that, the United States is all ears,” Vance said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on CBS's “Face the Nation” that "there are no planned military operations right now against Iran, unless, unless they mess around and they attack" US interests.
Trump has previously threatened other countries, but often backed down or failed to follow through, given his promises to his coalition of voters not to entangle the United States in an extended war.
It was not immediately clear whether Iran saw the avoidance of a wider conflict as in its best interests.
Much of the world is absorbing the consequences of the strikes and the risk that they could lead to more fighting across the Middle East after the US inserted itself into the war between Israel and Iran.
Airstrikes starting on June 12 by Israel that targeted Iran's nuclear facilities and generals prompted retaliation from Iran, creating a series of events that contributed to the US attack.