US Vice President JD Vance has described Iran’s leadership as “really, really crazy,” saying one lesson from the ongoing war is Tehran’s willingness to take extreme measures to disrupt oil and gas flows through the Gulf.
Speaking to Fox News on Monday night, Vance said a significant portion of US activity in the region now focuses on ensuring freedom of navigation and trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
He noted that the United States had recently responded to Iranian forces preparing to lay mines in the strait.
“What strikes me as strange is that sometimes they even fire on their own allies, just to prevent the free flow of oil and gas,” Vance told the network.
The comments came amid renewed tensions after months of conflict that has repeatedly threatened the critical waterway, which normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies.
On Sunday night, US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. A US official said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel were observed preparing to launch rockets carrying sea mines into the waterway.
The action marked the first known American strike on Iran in several weeks.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reported that the attack killed and wounded several soldiers and civilians and vowed a “response and punishment.”
Iranian media described it as a drone strike. The United States said it remains prepared to protect the free flow of commerce through the essential waterway.
Vance was also asked whether concerns over Gulf oil supplies explained recent US moves aimed at increasing production in Venezuela.
“That is not the reason we are doing it, but it is certainly a positive benefit of the move,” he replied.
The remarks underscore Washington’s dual priorities in the prolonged confrontation: keeping energy prices stable for Americans while preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Earlier interviews have seen Vance stress that protecting oil and gas flows ranks as a top objective alongside the nuclear goal.