"Ball in Iran's court," says JD Vance on talks amid warning of stronger US Response

Speaking during remarks alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Vance underscored that while the US prefers a diplomatic outcome, it retains powerful options.

"And the President of the United States is a man who recognises leverage, that if the Iranians want to exact a certain amount of pain, the United States has the ability to exact much, much greater pain. The President doesn't want to do that, I don't want to do that. That's why we're negotiating so aggressively, but fundamentally the ball is in the Iranians' court," he said.

Vance noted delays in communication and negotiation pace from Tehran, particularly in the midst of ongoing tensions.

"Now, I think the President has talked about this. One thing I will say is that the Iranians are not; they were not the fastest negotiators before the war started, and they're certainly not the fastest negotiators now. So we recognise there's some delay sometimes in transmitting messages from one person to another, but we feel confident that we can get a response, whether it's positive or negative. We're going to get a response from the Iranians by 8:00 pm tonight (local time). I hope they make the right response," he said.

Highlighting broader economic implications, Vance stressed the importance of stability in global energy flows."Because what we really want is we want a world where oil and gas is flowing freely, where people can afford to heat their homes and cool their homes, where people can afford to transport themselves to work. That's not going to happen if the Iranians are engaged in acts of economic terrorism," he added.

He further warned that Washington has additional measures at its disposal if Iran does not alter its approach."So they've got to know we've got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven't decided to use. The President of the United States can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don't change their course of conduct," Vance said.

Meanwhile, tensions between Washington and Tehran have reached a boiling point as a heavy barrage of aerial strikes was reported across multiple locations in Iran on Tuesday. According to NBC News, even prior to the expiration of the deadline set by the White House, "an intense wave of strikes was reported on bridges across Iran and on Kharg Island," which serves as the "country's key oil export hub."

A US official confirmed the scale of the operation, stating that the "US military struck dozens of military targets on the island overnight." This targeted action marks a severe expansion of the ongoing military confrontation in the Persian Gulf.

Providing further details on the nature of the engagement, the US official told NBC News that the "mission included US airstrikes along the northern side of the island." It was clarified that the operation was conducted entirely from the air and "did not include any US troops on the ground."

The strikes were reportedly precision-based, focusing on neutralising Tehran's defensive and logistical capabilities rather than the energy infrastructure itself. The official noted that the forces "did not strike the oil", but directed their fire towards specific strategic assets.

Among the sites destroyed were "military bunkers and storage facilities, air defence systems, and other military facilities." (ANI)