WASHINGTON (Realist English). Vice President JD Vance said Monday that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program broke down after US officials concluded Tehran’s explanations regarding uranium enrichment were not credible, leading President Donald Trump to authorize Operation Epic Fury.
Speaking on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime,” Vance said US representatives — including special envoy Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jared Kushner — had held multiple rounds of talks with Iranian officials in Geneva in an effort to limit Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief and to avoid wider conflict.
According to Vance, the discussions ultimately failed because Iran insisted that uranium enrichment for civilian energy purposes was a matter of national pride. US negotiators questioned why Tehran was constructing deeply buried facilities and enriching uranium to levels far exceeding civilian requirements.
“They said it was for peaceful purposes,” Vance said, “but when you’re enriching far beyond civilian levels and building facilities 70 to 80 feet underground, it doesn’t pass the smell test.”
Vance emphasized that Washington does not oppose Iran’s development of medical isotopes but objects to enrichment capabilities that could bring the country close to producing a nuclear weapon.
His remarks came as Operation Epic Fury entered its third day. Launched on February 28, the joint US-Israeli campaign has targeted Iran’s missile systems and nuclear infrastructure with precision strikes aimed at degrading Tehran’s military capacity.
A central issue in the failed talks was Iran’s enrichment of uranium to levels around 60% purity — significantly higher than limits established under the 2015 nuclear agreement and much closer to weapons-grade material, raising international concerns.
Vance said the strikes had substantially set back Iran’s nuclear capabilities but stressed that Trump was seeking a long-term guarantee that Tehran would permanently abandon any path toward a nuclear weapon.
“The President is not going to rest until he ensures that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” Vance said, adding that the administration does not intend to become embroiled in an open-ended conflict.
He stated that Washington ultimately prefers a stable Iran willing to cooperate with the United States but said that achieving that outcome would require what he described as a fundamental shift in the Iranian leadership’s approach.