Vance in Hungary expresses optimism Iran will respond before Tuesday night deadline

Politics Vance in Hungary expresses optimism Iran will respond before Tuesday night deadline By Kathryn Watson Kathryn Watson Politics Reporter Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C. Read Full Bio Kathryn Watson April 7, 2026 / 10:56 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Washington — Vice President JD Vance offered support Tuesday for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán while on a trip to Budapest, while also expressing optimism about negotiations with Iran amid President Trump's high-stakes deadline for a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz. Meeting with Orbán in Budapest ahead of the prime minister's reelection bid next week, Vance took a measured and somewhat optimistic approach to the current state of negotiations with Iran. Mr. Trump is threatening to destroy Iran if there isn't a peace deal by his deadline of 8 p.m. ET Tuesday. Vance said he's confident the U.S. will receive a response from Iran ahead of the 8 p.m. deadline, even though "they're not the fastest negotiators" and there is often a delay between responses. "I really think there are two pathways," Vance said in a large auditorium filled with Hungarian supporters of Orbán and Mr. Trump. "The president's been very clear about this. There are two pathways that this thing is ultimately going to end, First of all, the United States has largely accomplished its military objectives. There are still some things that we'd like to do — for example, on Iranian ability to manufacture weapons, that we'd like to do a little more work on militarily. But fundamentally, the military objectives of the United States have been completed." In the first path, Iran makes a deal, Vance said, but if Iran doesn't make a deal and chooses the second path, the economic situation in the country is "going to continue to be very, very bad." Vance insisted Iran is attacking U.S. partners in the Middle East precisely because the U...