The US conflict with Iran will enter a “much different phase in a couple of months,” US Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with the New York Post, the latter reports.

According to him, Washington considers the first phase of the conflict to be over and now intends to prevent Iran from restoring its military potential.

“We can’t predict the future, but I think the [US] president is right to say that this thing will enter a much different phase in a couple of months,” Vance said.

“There are really two phases to this thing, and the first phase is done,” Vance continued. “The first phase was destroy the nuclear program, destroy their conventional military, destroy their ability to project power in a way that they were able to even a couple of years ago.”

“And then the second phase of this is ensure that they’re not able to rebuild and try to maintain as much global stability in the wake of that,” the US vice president also said.

“But what is happening is that the Iranians are occasionally shooting at commercial shipping [in the Strait of Hormuz], usually not successfully,” Vance said.

He said that shipping through the strait has partially recovered and is more than half of its normal level.

US Navy SEALS have de-mined much of the strait in the past four months, but crossings remain far below their pre-war levels.

Reuters reported that only four ships passed through the strait on Tuesday, compared with an average of about 125 daily before the conflict began.

Vance’s statement came after President Donald Trump said that the conflict could end immediately after the November midterm elections in the US.

The US vice president agreed that the situation could change significantly in the coming months, but did not undertake to predict a specific scenario for the further development of the conflict.