Vice President JD Vance confirmed Monday that he personally contacted senior U.S. military commanders for assessments of the Iran conflict, calling the attention surrounding the conversations “very weird” as fighting continues following the breakdown of an earlier diplomatic framework.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Vice President JD Vance confirmed Monday that he directly contacted U.S. admirals and generals while assessing the Iran war, defending the conversations as a normal part of his role advising President Donald Trump on foreign policy.
Vance addressed the matter after a New York Times investigation reported that he had contacted military commanders in the Middle East, Europe and Asia during the spring and summer to obtain candid assessments of the conflict before their views were consolidated into broader Pentagon briefings.
“It’s like the vice president calls around to admirals and generals to try to understand America’s foreign policy, of course I do,” Vance told reporters, according to The Hill. “I found that story very weird.”
The conversations occurred as Vance assumed a significant role in the Trump administration’s effort to find a diplomatic exit from the conflict with Iran.
According to the Times, Vance sought what officials described as “unvarnished” assessments from military leaders about the war’s objectives, tactics, casualty projections, Iran’s ability to withstand continued attacks, conditions in the Strait of Hormuz and the effect of the conflict on U.S. weapons inventories.
His questions also extended beyond the Middle East. Military commanders discussed how transferring weapons and munitions to the Iran theater could affect American capabilities intended to deter China, Russia and North Korea, according to the report.
The Times reported that Vance’s contacts with commanders were made with the knowledge of Trump and other senior national security officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, Secretary of State and national security adviser Marco Rubio and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
Vance had opposed launching the war during internal administration deliberations but publicly supported Trump’s decision after the president authorized military action, according to officials cited by the Times.
As the conflict continued beyond its initial stages, Vance became one of the administration’s principal figures in efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting.
Trump authorized Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to pursue a diplomatic framework with Iran, eventually producing an agreement negotiated through Islamabad, Pakistan.
The resulting Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding established a 60-day diplomatic framework intended to halt military operations and create a pathway toward a broader agreement between Washington and Tehran. The plan addressed issues including Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions, commercial passage through the Strait of Hormuz and future economic arrangements.
The memorandum did not produce a lasting settlement.
Its negotiating period expired in August without a final agreement, and Washington and Tehran remained divided over key terms. Fighting subsequently intensified again, widening the regional consequences of a conflict that had already placed significant pressure on U.S. military resources and international energy markets.
The escalation has increasingly extended into Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Iran-aligned Houthi forces recently launched a rapid offensive along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, capturing additional territory and threatening the strategically important Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a major route connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and international shipping lanes.
The Houthis also seized strategically important Red Sea islands as Saudi-backed forces withdrew from positions along the coast, increasing concerns that the group could gain greater leverage over maritime traffic through the region.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia has faced missile and drone attacks targeting military, economic and energy infrastructure.
The kingdom temporarily shut its East-West oil pipeline after a drone attack originating from Iraq, according to Saudi and Iraqi officials. The pipeline has become particularly important because it allows Saudi crude to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and reach export facilities on the Red Sea.
Houthi attacks have separately targeted Saudi cities and infrastructure as fighting in Yemen has intensified.
Those developments have added urgency to the same questions Vance was reportedly asking military commanders earlier in the conflict: how sustainable the war is, what resources the United States would need if it continues and how a prolonged Middle East campaign could affect American capabilities elsewhere.
The Times reported that commanders gave Vance particularly sober assessments of U.S. weapons inventories, including Patriot air-defense interceptors and other precision weapons that had been drawn down during the conflict.
Vance used the information he gathered in his discussions with Trump and other senior officials as the administration considered both military operations and diplomatic options.
His comments Monday did not dispute that those conversations occurred.
Instead, the vice president rejected the suggestion that directly seeking military assessments was unusual, portraying his calls with senior commanders as part of understanding the conditions confronting U.S. forces and helping shape administration policy.
The acknowledgment comes at a moment when the diplomatic effort Vance helped lead has failed to produce a durable end to the conflict and the regional security situation has become more complicated.
The Islamabad framework has expired, fighting has resumed, Houthi forces have expanded their position along the Red Sea and attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure have increased pressure on global markets.
Against that backdrop, Vance’s direct outreach to military commanders offers a glimpse into how the vice president sought information outside standard consolidated briefings while helping advise the administration on a war that has continued well beyond the earlier effort to negotiate its conclusion.
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