Vice President J.D. Vance confirmed Monday that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have collapsed after U.S. officials concluded that Tehran’s claims had “failed the smell test,” prompting President Donald Trump to authorize Operation Epic Fury.
Speaking on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime’, Vance said US envoys – including Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jared Kushner – had held “deliberate” talks in Geneva with the Iranian delegation.
The discussions were aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief and averting a wider conflict, he said, but ultimately came to nothing.
“But the Iranians came back to us and said, ‘You know, having enrichment for civilian purposes, for energy purposes, is a matter of national pride,’” Vance said.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, President Donald Trump’s Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and US negotiator Jared Kushner meet ahead of US-Iran talks in Oman’s capital Muscat on February 6, 2026. (Oman Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“And so we would say, ‘Okay, that’s interesting, but why are you building your enrichment facilities 75 feet underground? And why are you enriching to a level that goes well beyond civilian enrichment and is only useful if your goal is to build a nuclear bomb?'” he said.
“Nobody objects to the Iranians being able to build medical isotopes; the objection is these enrichment facilities that are only useful for building a nuclear weapon,” Vance clarified.
“It just doesn’t pass the smell test when you say you want medical isotope enrichment while at the same time you’re trying to build a facility 70 to 80 feet underground,” he explained.
TRUMP DECLARES ‘I GOT HIM BEFORE HE GOT ME’ AFTER IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER KILLED IN STRIKE
This image from a US Central Command video shows a missile being launched from a US Navy ship in support of Operation Epic Fury on Saturday, February 28, 2026. (US Central Command via AP)
Vance spoke as Operation Epic Fury ended its third day. Launched on February 28, US and Israeli forces carried out coordinated precision strikes deep inside Iran, aimed at crippling Tehran’s missile arsenal and nuclear infrastructure.
A key problem was that Iran was enriching uranium to high levels, including material with a purity of around 60% – a fraction of weapons grade, but well above the limits set in the 2015 nuclear deal – keeping international alarm high about the proliferation risks.
“We destroyed Iran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon during President Trump’s term in office,” Vance told Watters. ‘We have set them back substantially. But I think the president was looking at the long view,” he said.
“Trump expected that Iran would make a long-term commitment never to build a nuclear weapon, that it would not pursue the possibility of being on the brink of a nuclear weapon.”
FIRE MATCH AT IRAN’S BANDAR ABBAS NAVY HEADQUARTERS, STREET OF HORMUZ TRAFFIC IS CONSTRUED
Vice President J.D. Vance speaks with Breitbart News Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, Nov. 20, 2025, in Washington. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
“He wanted to ensure that Iran could never have a nuclear weapon, and that would require a fundamental change in the mindset of the Iranian regime.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“The president will not rest until he achieves that single most important goal: ensuring that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, not just for the next few years, not just because we destroyed it for money or otherwise.”
“It is simply impossible that Donald Trump will allow this country to enter a multi-year conflict with no clear end in sight and no clear goal,” Vance added, describing that the administration would prefer “to see a friendly regime in Iran, a stable country, a country willing to work with the United States.”
Related article
