Vance defends Trump peace deal with Iran

Vice President JD Vance defended President Donald Trump’s interim peace deal on Thursday, insisting that the United States is not paying the Islamic Republic and that any economic benefits for Iran depend on full compliance with the agreement.

“The United States isn’t giving up a cent of money to Iran,” Vance said.

Vance’s comments came as the White House faced Republican backlash over whether Trump gave Iran too much in a 14-point memorandum of understanding that includes sanctions relief, access to frozen funds and a proposed $300 billion reconstruction plan.

“The only way the Iranians get any of these resources … is if they comply fully” with the terms of the deal.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, also framed the deal as conditional, saying Thursday he had granted permission for the memorandum only after receiving assurances that Iran’s rights and the “resistance front” would be protected.

“In principle, I had a different opinion,” Khamenei said in a statement. 

Khamenei said he allowed the agreement after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who also leads Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, accepted responsibility for safeguarding Iran’s interests. 

The ayatollah said Iran would wait to see if conditions are met, cautioning that future direct talks with the U.S. do not imply submission to “the enemy’s opinion.”

Following the ayatollah’s statement, Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, that “we encourage everyone in the Middle East Region to maintain their commitment to allowing our negotiations to beautifully unfold.”

Trump continued, “The Markets are loving what is happening with Oil Prices way down, and Stocks way up. We expect a complete Ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel.”

Vance pushed back on criticisms that lifting sanctions amounted to a major concession.

“The choke point on Iranian oil was never the sanctions. We didn’t see that as a major concession to the Iranians,” Vance said.

Vance contended that Iran was already selling oil despite U.S. sanctions, which he described as “fundamentally ineffective” by the time of the deal. He said lifting the sanctions could actually give the U.S. more visibility into Iran’s financial activity.

“By lifting the sanctions, we’re actually going to be able to see a little bit where their financial system actually sends money and receives money,” Vance said. “That’s a real benefit to the American people.”

Vance added that Iran’s “nuclear program has been completely destroyed,” framing the agreement as the next stage of Trump’s pressure campaign rather than a concession to Tehran.

“Now we see whether they are willing to comply with the next step of the president’s peace plan,” Vance said.

The deal, signed by Trump and Iranian President Pezeshkian, ends military operations for now, reopens the Strait of Hormuz for at least 60 days to open a negotiating window for a final deal. Vance said that the 60-day period, which can be extended, began on Thursday.

Vance argued the agreement could reshape the region if Iran follows through.

“If they do change their behavior, they are going to have a transformative relationship with the Middle East,” Vance said.

Vance also issued a stark warning to Israeli critics of the deal, saying they should be careful about critiquing Trump.

“Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said. “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” he added.

Vance continued, “Over the last three months, two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars.”

That is an unusually blunt rebuke of Israeli officials as the Trump administration works to defend a deal that has drawn bipartisan criticism including from pro-Israel lawmakers.

“Donald Trump thinks that the Iranian regime is going to come willingly give up all this enriched uranium. I think he is making a bad bet,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Thursday. “Take reports of what Secretary Rubio or Director Ratcliffe have said. Take the comments of my Republican friends on this. I think this will go down as one of the worst follies, clearly the worst international folly, of Mr. Trump’s term.” 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Thursday that “History demonstrates that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is an exceptionally bad idea.”

When asked if there anything Congress can do, Cruz said, “I hope we choose to go down a different path.”

Another Republican, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who has backed Trump’s Iran pressure campaign, warned that the MOU could undercut the administration’s own military gains.

“I am concerned that the memorandum of understanding negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the President’s goals,” Wicker said.

Wicker said the proposed $300 billion reconstruction and economic development fund for Iran, though not funded by U.S. taxpayers, “would make Iran’s payoff under President Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison.”

The senator also said it would be “an error to force Israel to stand down against Hezbollah” and opposed lifting sanctions or unfreezing Iranian funds “in exchange for Iran’s mere agreement to negotiate for another 60 days.”

Nikki Haley, Trump’s former U.N. ambassador, said in a social media post Wednesday that striking Iran’s nuclear and missile sites was “the right move,” but added: “It’s a huge mistake to pay to rebuild the threat we just destroyed.”

Israel is not a party to the peace deal. The country’s conflict with Hezbollah has strained U.S.-Iran negotiations, drawing a recent rebuke from Trump regarding the military campaign in Lebanon.

Vance said lawmakers either received a formal copy of the signed document Thursday morning or would get it later in the day. He said the administration is planning a formal briefing for Congress “very soon.”

However, Vance said the administration “feel[s] quite confident” it can temporarily lift some sanctions without congressional approval.