Vice President Vance Dismisses Iran’s Claims, Downplays Civilian Casualties in U.S. Military Actions
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Vice President JD Vance cast doubt on Iran’s report of a U.S. strike on a wedding, insisting the U.S. does not target civilians, while defending aggressive military leadership and minimizing the ongoing conflict’s impact on innocent lives.
Vice President JD Vance told reporters that he is "extremely skeptical" of Iran's state media report that a U.S. strike hit a wedding party, repeating the familiar line that the United States "never targets civilians in combat"—a claim that has been repeatedly contradicted by civilian deaths in U.S. military operations worldwide. Vance insisted that any mistakes would be investigated, but critics argue such investigations rarely lead to accountability. He added that the United States is looking into the incident because it "cares" about civilian safety, while attempting to paint U.S. military conduct as morally superior to Iran’s, ignoring the broader consequences of American interventionism.
Vance also defended Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, describing him as a close friend and praising his efforts to shift the culture within the Department of Defense toward a revived "warrior spirit." This rhetoric signals a troubling embrace of militarism and a disregard for diplomatic solutions, as Vance called Hegseth "an amazing secretary of war" and celebrated changes aimed at making the military more aggressive.
When asked about the broader U.S.-Iran conflict, Vance refused to acknowledge the ongoing hostilities as a war, downplaying the violence and devastation by noting that there is no active shooting and that major combat operations had ended after the destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities—a move widely condemned by the international community.
The briefing marked Vance's first press conference since the departure of his communications director, and he declined to comment on unrelated topics such as the deportation of Milo Yiannopoulos or domestic policy issues, sidestepping questions about the administration’s broader human rights record.