Karim Sadjadpour is a senior fellow in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on Iran and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, and a CNN global affairs analyst.
Case
Vice President JD Vance said he would not call the U.S. fight with Iran a war, citing no active shooting. President Trump defended the description; Sanders, Schumer and Massie criticized it, and Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson called the fighting aggression, not war.
Role at the time: Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and CNN global affairs analyst, interviewed on CNN's The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Response to this claim
Vice President JD Vance said he would not call the U.S. fight with Iran a war, saying there is no active shooting right now and that major combat operations lasted about six weeks.
“Iran undeniably is in a war with the United States, even if President Vance -- Vice President Vance says that the United States is not in a war.”
The reference point is Vance's statement that he would not call the fighting a war. Sadjadpour offers a different description, saying Iran "undeniably is in a war" with the United States, and does not address whether the fighting is right or wrong. That disputes the label without denouncing Vance, so challenges the characterization fits better than condemns.
Statement dates: September 8, 2026
Statement dates: September 8, 2026
Statement dates: September 8, 2026
