2026-09-03T21:01:21.290Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/03/politics/jd-vance-iran-war
当地时间周四，副总统J·D·万斯在白宫出席活动时，既未给出伊朗战争结束的时间表，也未说明汽油价格何时能回落至战前水平。他转而表示，这场始于美以联合空袭六个月前的冲突，应由伊朗方面来结束。
万斯辩称，当前的敌对行动甚至不该被称为“战争”，因为“主动作战行动”数月前就已结束。
“眼下没有交火了，”万斯坚称。但本周美国与伊朗连续三天交火，其中霍尔木兹海峡周边地区的冲突尤为激烈。
将中东局势描述为偶发的低烈度战斗，表明拜登政府正试图在关键的中期选举前两个月，将这场战争抛诸脑后。尽管美国军方仍在持续主动打击伊朗军事据点。五角大楼周四更新的伤亡数据显示，自今年2月底冲突爆发以来，已有790名美军官兵受伤，18人阵亡。
周二，美军开展了多维度军事行动，打击了海峡周边近60个军事目标，包括防空阵地、雷达系统、海事资产、布雷能力设施以及通信站点，同时还为途经该水道的船只提供护航。
美军预计将继续在海峡附近发动攻势打击，部分原因是伊朗已展现出重建军事能力的实力。多名官员称，此类打击行动无异于“割青草”或是“打地鼠”游戏。
尽管周二的行动取得成功，但官员们并不幻想能迅速解决冲突。而且尽管有军事护航，能源企业仍对派遣船只通过海峡面临的巨大风险心存忌惮。
这场不受欢迎的战争推高了汽油价格，引发了试图保住国会多数席位的共和党人的焦虑。
特朗普本周坚称，他不会因选举临近而被迫结束敌对行动。但他的顾问和盟友都承认，在11月选举前，冲突越淡出公众视野越好。
万斯最初反对对伊朗开战，今年初夏曾在推动外交和解方面发挥主导作用。但他谈判达成的停火协议仅维持两周就破裂了，双方重回互相打击的循环，伊朗试图掌控海峡控制权。
8月大部分时间局势趋于平静。但本周美国打击了海峡附近的伊朗据点后，空袭再次重启，美方称这些据点正准备向水道布设水雷。万斯表示，政府正在调查最新美军空袭造成霍尔木兹海峡附近村庄一场婚礼庆典上4人死亡的报道，未排除平民丧生的可能性，但同时坚称军方“从未在作战中瞄准平民”。
“我们绝不会这么做，过去也从未这么做过。不幸的是，显然有时难免会出现意外，但就这起事件而言，我认为我们目前没有任何相关确切信息，”万斯说道。
德黑兰针对美军最新空袭行动，对该地区的美军基地实施了报复打击。
万斯称，目前与伊朗没有任何谈判在进行中。
“总统已经说得很清楚了，”他在周四的新闻发布会上告诉记者，“我们不会与他们对话，也不会和他们对话，除非他们停止向商业船只开火。”
这让冲突结束的时间变得不确定。万斯无法确定冲突是否会在11月3日的选举前结束。
“当你问这场冲突何时结束时，其实是在问我伊朗何时会停止向船只开火。我认为现实是，我不知道这个问题的答案，”他说，“你应该去问伊朗人。”
这位副总统也不愿透露汽油价格何时会回落。
“我不会承诺油价何时能回到3美元，”他说，“我能说的是，我们必须牢记我们为何要这么做：第一，确保伊朗永远不会拥有核武器。”
万斯是在白宫简报室发表上述讲话的，该简报室已有42天未被本届政府使用。新闻秘书卡罗琳·利夫特上周离职，特朗普尚未任命接任者。
万斯发表了近一小时的讲话，回答了从伊朗冲突到他本人减重等一系列问题。他将自己瘦身归功于卫生与公众服务部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪制定的饮食计划。
“我吃很多高蛋白食物，还有很多泡菜，”他形容这套饮食没那么可口：“如果你想吃得开心，就别找鲍比·肯尼迪（来制定食谱）。”
他还全力支持另一位内阁成员、国防部长皮特·赫格斯西。近期国防部因人事解雇、晋升受阻以及高级军官辞职陷入动荡，赫格斯西的 Pentagon 管理方式受到审查。
陆军部长丹·德里斯科尔——与万斯在耶鲁法学院的旧交——本周提交辞呈，成为最新一位离职的五角大楼高官。这导致陆军失去了最高文职领导人。
曾在国民警卫队服役近20年的赫格斯西，尤其关注陆军及其领导层，解雇或迫使多名关键陆军领导人离职。
甚至一些知名共和党退休人士都呼吁赫格斯西下台。去年为确认这位国防部长投下关键一票的北卡罗来纳州参议员汤姆·蒂利斯表示，他“从未见过对为国效力的勇敢男女有如此无能的管理”。他还称赫格斯西“被能力强的人吓住了”。
但万斯淡化了这些人事变动，称赫格斯西正在推动军队改革。
“从我活到42岁以来，美国打了很多场战争，几乎没赢过几场，直到唐纳德·J·特朗普成为美国总统，”他说。
CNN记者戴维斯·温基为本报道贡献了内容。
Vance says Iran conflict isn’t a ‘war,’ even as he refuses to say when it will end
2026-09-03T21:01:21.290Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/03/politics/jd-vance-iran-war
Vice President JD Vance could provide neither a timeline for the Iran war to end nor a date when gas prices might sink below pre-war levels during a White House appearance Thursday, suggesting instead it was up to Iran to conclude the conflict that began with joint US-Israeli airstrikes six months ago.
The current hostilities shouldn’t even be called a “war,” Vance argued, since “active combat operations” ended months ago.
“Right now, there is no active shooting,” Vance insisted, despite three consecutive days this week when the US and Iran exchanged fire, including around the Strait of Hormuz.
The description of the Middle East situation as an occasional, low-grade battle was a sign the administration is trying to place the war in the rear-view mirror two months ahead of critical midterm elections, even as the US military continues actively targeting Iranian positions. Updated casualty figures from the Pentagon on Thursday showed 790 US service members have been wounded and 18 killed since the conflict began in late February.
On Tuesday, the US conducted a multi-faceted operation, hitting nearly 60 military targets around the strait — including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites — while simultaneously escorting ships through the waterway.
The US military expects to continue conducting offensive strikes near the strait, in part because Iran has demonstrated it has the capacity to reconstitute its capabilities. Conducting those strikes amounts to “mowing the grass” or a game of “whack-a-mole,” officials said.
Although Tuesday’s operation was a success, officials are under no illusion that a swift solution to the conflict is close. And energy companies are still wary about the huge risks involved in sending their ships through the strait, even with military escorts.
The unpopular war has caused an uptick in gas prices, prompting anxiety among Republicans looking to maintain congressional majorities.
Trump insisted this week he feels no pressure to wind down hostilities before ballots are cast. But his advisers and allies all concede the further the war recedes from view in the lead-up to November, the better.
Vance, who initially opposed going to war with Iran, played a leading role earlier this summer in trying to broker a diplomatic settlement. But the ceasefire he negotiated fell apart after two weeks, and the two sides returned to a cycle of back-and-forth strikes as Iran sought to maintain control of the strait.
Calm prevailed for most of August. But the strikes resumed this week when the US took out Iranian positions near the strait it said were preparing to launch mines into the waterway. Vance said the administration is investigating reports that the latest US strikes killed four people attending a wedding celebration in a village near the Strait of Hormuz, declining to rule out that civilians were killed while insisting the military “never targets civilian in combat.”
“We never will do that, we never have done that, and unfortunately, obviously, sometimes things happen, but in this particular case, I don’t think that we have any information one way or the other,” Vance said.
Tehran retaliated against the latest US strikes by targeting American bases in the region.
Now, there are no talks underway with the Iranians, Vance said.
“The president’s been very clear,” he told reporters at Thursday’s press briefing. “We’re not talking to them, and we’re not going to talk to them unless they stop shooting at commercial shipping.”
That leaves an uncertain timeline for concluding the conflict. Vance could not say whether it would end by the elections, which fall on November 3.
“When you ask when will this end, you’re asking me a question like when will the Iranians stop shooting at ships? I think the reality is I don’t know the answer to that question,” he said. “You would have to ask the Iranians.”
The vice president would also not say when gas might become cheaper.
“I’m not going to make a promise about when it’s going to return to $3,” he said. “What I will say is that we have to remember why are we doing this? Number one, it’s so that Iran never has a nuclear weapon.”
Vance was speaking from the White House briefing room, which had gone unused by the administration for 42 days. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt left the job last week, and Trump has not named a replacement.
Vance spoke for nearly an hour, taking questions on everything from the Iran conflict to his own slimmed-down figure, which he attributed to a diet prescribed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“I eat a lot of high protein stuff and I eat a lot of sauerkraut,” he said, describing the regime as somewhat less than appetizing: “If you want to enjoy what you eat, do not call Bobby Kennedy.”
He also offered robust support for another Cabinet member, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, whose management of the Pentagon has come under scrutiny amid turmoil prompted by firings, blocked promotions and resignations of senior officers.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll — a close friend of Vance from their days together at Yale Law School — became the latest Pentagon departure when he submitted his resignation this week. That left the Army without its top civilian leader.
Hegseth — who served in the Army National Guard for nearly 20 years — has taken particular interest in the Army and its leadership, firing or forcing out several key leaders in the service.
And even some prominent retiring Republicans have called for Hegseth to go. Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who was a crucial vote to confirm the defense secretary last year, said he had “never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country.” He also said Hegseth was “intimidated by competence.”
Vance, however, downplayed the departures, and said instead that Hegseth was working to reform the military.
“America has fought a lot of wars since I’ve been alive, 42 years, and we have won almost none of them until Donald J. Trump became the president of the United States,” he said.
CNN’s Davis Winkie contributed to this report.