New Delhi, Aug. 14 -- Vice President JD Vance said Friday that keeping oil and gas prices low is America's primary objective in the Iran conflict, placing the nuclear threat in a secondary position, even as the United Arab Emirates condemned what it called a "hostile Iranian attack" on two state oil company vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

"Goal number two is ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon." He said he was "confident we're accomplishing both of those goals" and described the endgame as a situation where "the United States is in a stronger position, with Iran not having a nuclear weapon, and with the Strait of Hormuz returned to a place where oil and gas prices are stable."

The statement is the most explicit public sequenci...