Vice President JD Vance warned yesterday that the Iranian regime could face a harsh “Option B” if it doesn’t accept US peace terms soon, saying American forces are “locked and loaded”.
Even so, his remarks sounded marginally less escalatory than President Donald Trump’s comments earlier in the week, after Trump said on Monday he had been just “an hour away” from authorising new airstrikes on Iran.
The ceasefire that has largely held for the last six weeks — around half the length of the broader US-Iran conflict so far — appeared increasingly fragile on Monday, as Trump suggested more military action could follow if Tehran refuses to give ground.
“They better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” he wrote on Truth Social. “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!” In a press call led by the vice president, Vance — despite previously positioning himself as a critic of long-running overseas wars — also signalled impatience with the pace of negotiations.
Pressed on Tuesday about where talks stand, the vice president raised the prospect of “Option B” if Washington believes Iran is on course to obtain a nuclear missile, echoing a kind of domino-logic about what might come next.
As Vance described it, the alternative would see Trump “restart the military campaign” against Iran that began 82 days ago — framing the situation as a straightforward choice for Tehran.
According to Vance, the administration views an Iranian nuclear weapon as a trigger for wider proliferation, with other countries potentially racing to obtain their own nuclear capabilities, leaving the world “less safe”. However, no nuclear experts believe Iran was close to having enough highly enriched uranium for a bomb; Iran is reported to have roughly half a tonne enriched to about 60 percent, while weapons-grade is generally around 90 percent.
Still, Vance argued: “Iran would really be the first domino in what would set off a nuclear arms race all over the world.”
While Trump and Vance both publicly underscored that hard-line position on Tuesday, the administration also indicated it is open to an agreement with Tehran — provided Iran accepts US limits concerning nuclear materials.
.@VP JD Vance update on Iran: "The president has asked us, has told us to aggressively negotiate with the Iranians…option B is that we can restart the military campaign." pic.twitter.com/AjPHODtmL5
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 19, 2026
“We are not going to have a deal that allows the Iranians to have a nuclear weapon, so as the president just told me, we are locked and loaded. We don’t want to go down that pathway but the president is willing and able to if we have to,” Vance said.
He said the US is “willing to cut a deal so long as the Iranians are willing to meet us on that core issue of never having a nuclear weapon”.
Later on Tuesday, there were early signs that weeks of stop-start negotiations, mixed signals, and breakdowns in communication could be edging toward a turning point in the nearly three-month conflict.
A limited number of Asian fuel tankers reportedly passed through the Strait of Hormuz without incident — a development likely to ease immediate anxieties in the region, which receives much of the fuel transported through the Persian Gulf.