Vance blames Iran war for defeat as Brent sinks below $95
JD Vance has told Republicans that “the reason we lost is the war”, in a statement on X that the BBC describes as 600 words long and carefully calibrated. President Trump called the assessment “largely true” but said he would “do it again”. Brent crude settled 8.7% lower at $94.62 on Wednesday as traders bet that the result makes a deal with Tehran more likely.
Mr Vance’s four-point prescription was to end the war, focus on the cost of living, “put America First” and change the relationship with Israel; he invited colleagues who thought the war worth losing the Senate “for the next 6 years” to say so. Ted Cruz said the war “should have been brief, decisive, and over”, while Chuck Schumer, who is set to lead the Senate, said “this war must end”. Mr Trump insisted he “would have done nothing different”, claiming Iran’s navy, air force and air defences were gone. In Tehran, Mohsen Rezaei of the Supreme National Security Council said Americans had been stuck with the bill for the war and called the result a political defeat for the president. West Texas Intermediate fell 8.3% to $88.12 and oil has lost more than 14% this week; analysts caution that Iran remains “hardened in its uncompromising position” and that the sell-off may be overdone. Al Jazeera puts the war’s cost to the American taxpayer at an estimated $47bn, a figure no other outlet gives. Watch for Ro Khanna’s proposal to bar funding for combat operations in Iran.