Iran-Israel tension: US to join strikes? Vance warns Trump could target Tehran's nuclear program

US Vice-President JD Vance on Tuesday warned that Donald Trump might take "further action" in a bid to end Iran's nuclear programme hours after the US president strongly advocated against Tehran possessing any nuclear weapon."The president has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military's focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens. He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment," Vance said in a post X.Clearing the air over US's stance regarding Iran possessing nukes, Vance said, "First, POTUS has been amazingly consistent, over 10 years, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Over the last few months, he encouraged his foreign policy team to reach a deal with the Iranians to accomplish this goal.

The president has made clear that Iran cannot have uranium enrichment. And he said repeatedly that this would happen one of two ways--the easy way or the 'other' way.

""Second, I've seen a lot of confusion over the issue of "civilian nuclear power" and "uranium enrichment." These are distinct issues. Iran could have civilian nuclear power without enrichment, but Iran rejected that. Meanwhile, they've enriched uranium far above the level necessary for any civilian purpose.

They've been found in violation of their non-proliferation obligations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is hardly a rightwing organization," he added.

Earlier in the day, Trump had made it clear that Iran "cannot have nuclear weapons" saying, "Iran should have signed the “deal” I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!"

Israel's recent military operation targeted Iran’s key nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan, according to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

A major above-ground section of Natanz, including its power infrastructure, was destroyed, and satellite imagery suggests potential damage to its underground enrichment plant.While no visible damage was found at the deeply buried Fordow enrichment site, the IAEA confirmed that four buildings at the Isfahan facility were hit — including a chemical lab, uranium conversion plant, reactor fuel plant, and a metal processing unit under construction.