JD Vance says Iran conflict is not a war, offers no end date as midterm poll looms

US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday said the fighting between the United States and Iran was not a war and declined to provide a timeline for when the conflict would end, underscoring the challenge facing the Trump administration as hostilities enter their seventh month and midterm elections loom.

Washington and Tehran exchanged back-and-forth attacks this week after a period of relative calm, with no diplomatic talks underway with Iran to end the conflict.

The war has dragged down President Donald Trump's approval ratings and driven up gas prices, raising the stakes for Republican candidates fighting to preserve their party's narrow congressional majorities in November.

At a White House briefing, Vance touted US efforts to facilitate oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian forces have disrupted maritime traffic since the war began. He credited Washington's actions with helping avert a broader global energy crisis.

Vance pushed back against describing the conflict as a "war", saying the US had ended major combat operations with Iran despite renewed fighting this week. He said Washington's focus was now to ensure Tehran could not continue disrupting commercial oil shipping.

"I wouldn't call it a war," Vance said. "Right now there's no active shooting. I recognise there's been places where this has flared up."

The US maintains more than 50,000 troops in the Middle East. The Trump administration has surged assets into the region, including nearly 20 warships focused on a blockade. In some instances, troops have remained deployed longer than expected, while the administration has pulled others from Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

Asked repeatedly about when the war would end, Vance said an end would require Iran to stop shooting at commercial shipping.

"When will the Iranians stop shooting at ships? I think the reality is I don't know the answer to that question," he said.

Vance also ruled out negotiations as long as Tehran continued targeting commercial shipping.

While the most intense fighting has subsided, recurring exchanges of fire and the lack of a definitive end to the war have kept global oil prices elevated.

On Tuesday, the United States launched airstrikes on Iran, hitting what it said were military targets along the coast in retaliation for Iranian attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. The sudden escalation of the war has pushed oil prices to levels unseen since July.

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With agency inputs.