JD Vance and the Trump team keep moving the goalposts on Iran
Vice President JD Vance has outlined a revised set of goals regarding the conflict with Iran, prioritizing energy price stability and preventing nuclear proliferation. This shift marks a departure from the previous administration's more expansive objectives, such as regime change.
Why it matters
The recalibration of foreign policy goals suggests a potential strategic pivot in how the current administration intends to manage Middle Eastern geopolitical tensions.
Vice President JD Vance discusses anti-fraud initiatives during a visit to Wisconsin Air National Guard's 128th Air Refueling Wing at Milwaukee Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee on July 8. - Jim Vondruska/Reuters One of the Trump administration's biggest problems in extracting itself from the Iran war is the list of very absolutist goals that President Donald Trump and his team laid out.
The goals have included complete Iranian surrender, regime change, Iran never getting a nuclear weapon and ending Tehran's support for its Middle East proxy groups like Hezbollah.
As the war — now in its sixth month — has dragged on, this list of goals has conspicuously shifted and been pared back. And Vice President JD Vance appears to have pared it back recently in a remarkable way, offering the latest indication that the administration might be preparing to settle for less — maybe even a lot less.
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