Israel-Iran war: Pentagon says 'US does not seek war’; JD Vance 'confident nuclear development delayed’

Israel-Iran war: Hours after US pounded three of Iran's nuclear sites, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has now said that America “does not seek war” with Iran.

While addressing the press, Hegseth said that the strikes carried out under a mission named “Operation Midnight Hammer,” was “not and has not been about regime change.”

Meanwhile, JD 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.”

Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the goal of the operation — destroying nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan — had been achieved.

‘Really pushed their program further’

When pressed further, JD Vance 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 claimed that the US 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.

Vance said it would make sense for Iran to come to the negotiating table and give up their nuclear weapons program over the long term. “If they’re willing to do that, they’re going to find a willing partner in the United States of America,” he said, describing a possible chance of a “reset” for Tehran.

While US officials urged for caution and stressed that only nuclear sites were targeted by Washington, Iran criticised the actions as a violation of its sovereignty and international law.

‘Washington fully responsible’

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Sunday that Washington was “fully responsible” for whatever actions Tehran may take in response.

“They crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities," he said at a news conference in Turkey. “I don’t know how much room is left for diplomacy.”

Both Russia and China condemned the U.S. attack. Araghchi said he would travel to Moscow later Sunday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement warned about the risk of the conflict spreading beyond the Middle East to “a global level.”

The Pentagon briefing did not provide any new details about Iran's nuclear capabilities. Hegseth said the timeline was the result of a schedule set by President Donald Trump for talks with Iran about its nuclear ambitions.

The strikes occurred Saturday between 6:40 pm and 7:05 pm in Washington, or roughly 2:10 am on Sunday in Iran.