Vice President JD Vance claimed “progress” has been made in talks with Iran but cautioned the United States is “in the middle of the game” — a day after a report claimed a top American general has been seeking an off-ramp in the conflict.

Vance appeared with Fox anchor Kayleigh McEnany Saturday for an exclusive interview in which he discussed the conflict in Iran:

Right now we’re trying to see if they’re willing to make the kind of long-term changes that would be necessary to have a better relationship with the United States.

And if not, that’s fine, too. We’re just going to keep on applying the pressure that we can apply and getting as much oil and gas out of the Middle East so that Americans can enjoy lower gas and energy prices.

So that’s the delicate dance. The final thing I’ll say about this, Kaylee, is I try to remind people that we’re really in the middle of the game here.

This thing is not over. It’s obviously not at the beginning. We’re in the middle of the game, and we’re applying a whole host of tools, diplomatic, economic, military tools, to ensure that we get the best outcome for the American people.

I feel quite confident we will get there, but we’re still a bit in the middle of game.

Vance went on to repeat the administration’s claims that Iran is struggling under the weight of the more than five month long war:

What’s been going on for the past week or so is that the Iranians and the Gulf countries, particularly Oman, have been talking about how to ensure the safe flow of traffic.

The one problem, of course, is the Iranians laid a large number of mines at the beginning of the war. And so what we’re really working through now is how you can actually set up a traffic scheme so that the ships that pass can pass through safely.

That includes, of, course, demining. That also includes a commitment from the Iranians that they’re not going to fire at commercial vessels.

They’re hurting in a big way. They want this thing to be over.

The question is whether they’re able, their system is able to give the things that are necessary for us to be happy, for us feel like we’ve gotten what we need out of this particular engagement.

That is still to be determined, but I do think that we’ve made some progress over the last few days.

Vance’s declaration that the conflict is “in the middle of the game” comes a day after CNN reported American Gen. Dean Caine, has been looking “for an off ramp.”