Pence Calls More Strikes Inside Iran 'Inevitable'
Pence Calls More Strikes Inside Iran 'Inevitable'
The News
Former Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday that the United States and Israel will have to take further military action inside Iran, calling that step "inevitable."
Pence made the remarks on CNN's "State of the Union," speaking from Kyiv, as the conflict with Iran approaches its six-month mark.
He argued Iranian leadership has not accepted the reality on the battlefield, and said keeping U.S. military assets in the region is "absolutely imperative."
Pence, a longtime Iran hawk, implied that ground forces would be required to "go in and finish the job," according to The Independent.
Timeline
U.S. and Iranian forces have exchanged strikes since early July, despite a pause in the fighting.
A 60-day U.S.-Iran ceasefire memorandum expired with no new deal in place.
President Trump threatened economic consequences for any country that aids Iran.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would not come "humiliated before the enemy."
Pence tells CNN further action inside Iran is "inevitable."
Reactions
Pence pushed back on the argument that the Iran war is hurting Ukraine by draining U.S. weapons stockpiles, denying that the campaign has come at Kyiv's expense, The Hill reported.
Pezeshkian's line that Iran will not appear "humiliated before the enemy" signals Tehran is not preparing to concede.
Coverage of Pence's remarks splits on emphasis: one account centers the domestic political pressure on Trump over a war officials predicted would last weeks, another centers the lapsed ceasefire and the economic escalation that followed.
What's Next
The Trump administration is intensifying economic sanctions against Iran.
No public negotiations between Washington and Tehran have been reported, and no third party has been named as a broker for a new ceasefire.
The open question is what military action, if any, the administration is actually planning inside Iran.
More
Trump faces growing domestic unpopularity tied to the war. Pence's call for escalation puts a prominent Republican voice on the record demanding more, not less, at the moment the ceasefire framework has lapsed and both sides are still trading fire.
Poll suggestion: Should the U.S. take further military action inside Iran?
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