The Blubber

JD Vance stated Sunday that the United States is “not at war with Iran” but rather with its nuclear weapons program—underscoring a distinction the White House is keen to preserve as Tehran weighs its next steps following Saturday’s U.S. airstrikes on three of its nuclear sites.

Speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, the vice president was asked directly if the United States had now entered a war with Iran.

“We’re not at war with Iran,” Vance responded. “We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program.”

However, Vance stopped short of confirming whether the targeted nuclear sites had been entirely destroyed—a claim President Trump made in a national address Saturday night, declaring that the U.S. had “completely and totally obliterated” the facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan.

Instead, Vance said the strikes had significantly disrupted Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“I won’t get into classified intelligence about what we’ve seen inside Iran,” he said, “but based on what we know, I’m confident we’ve substantially delayed their ability to develop a nuclear weapon—and that was the goal of this mission.”

He added: “Whether we say ‘severely damaged’ or ‘obliterated’—what matters is that their nuclear program has been set back in a major way.”

On Sunday, an Iranian lawmaker claimed the Fordow enrichment facility—targeted by seven U.S. B-2 bombers using 14 of the military’s most advanced bunker-buster bombs—had escaped serious damage. The bombers returned to their base in Missouri later that day.

Meanwhile, a Bloomberg News report suggested that satellite imagery contradicted Trump’s assertion of total destruction. Images from Maxar Technologies showed new impact craters and potential structural collapses around tunnel entrances at Fordow, but noted that key above-ground support structures remained intact.

At Natanz, Maxar identified a crater roughly 5.5 meters wide positioned over the underground complex but said there was no definitive evidence the 40-meter-deep enrichment site had been compromised.

General Dan Caine, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon that while final assessments were ongoing, “initial battle damage evaluations show all three targets suffered extremely severe damage and destruction.”

As analysts reviewed the aftermath of the strikes, debate continued over their long-term effectiveness. Some nuclear non-proliferation experts questioned whether the attack would compel Iran to resume negotiations or, conversely, accelerate efforts to build a nuclear weapon.