Vice President JD Vance defended President Donald Trump’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran, insisting that the regime won’t get any money.
Before I go on, here is the language of the MOU for context:
1. The deal starts with the core demand: both sides “declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations.”2. Washington and Iran pledge a basic noninterference pact, agreeing to “respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”3. The clock starts immediately, with both sides committing to reach a final deal in “maximum 60 days.”4. The U.S. would begin rolling back pressure in the Strait of Hormuz, pledging to “fully end the naval blockade within 30 days.”5. Iran would reopen key shipping lanes, promising “safe passage of commercial vessels” from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman.6. The economic centerpiece is massive, with the U.S. and partners backing “at least USD 300 billion” for Iran’s reconstruction and development.7. Sanctions relief is put squarely on the table, with Washington agreeing to “terminate all types of sanctions.”8. The nuclear red line is explicit: Iran “shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons.”9. Until a final deal is reached, both sides freeze escalation and agree to “maintain the status quo.”10. Iranian oil gets immediate breathing room, with Treasury set to issue “waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil.”11. Frozen money becomes part of the deal, with the U.S. agreeing to make Iranian assets “fully available for use.”12. Compliance would be tracked through a new enforcement channel, with an “executive mechanism” established to monitor implementation.13. Final-deal talks only begin after early concessions are underway, “subject to the beginning of the implementation” of key paragraphs.14. The agreement’s endgame is international lock-in, with the final deal to be endorsed by a “binding” United Nation Security Council resolution.
You will hear things about $300 billion or $24 billion, or this or that number or amount of money, and the simple fact is that the only way the Iranians get any of those resources — not a single penny, by the way, from the United States of America under any circumstances — but the only way that they would ever get any benefit of the bargain is if they comply fully and change their behavior.If the Iranians don’t change their behavior, their military and their nuclear program are still destroyed; if they do change their behavior, then they are going to have a transformative relationship with the Middle East.It’s a win-win for us.
But… that’s still $300 billion we could give Iran. We all rightfully lashed out at the Obama administration for giving Iran billions.
When asked about who would provide the funds, Vance responded, “There is a great desire from the Arab world, and from outside the Arab world, to actually get involved in Iran if they behave properly.”
Um, the MOU states, “The economic centerpiece is massive, with the U.S. and partners backing ‘at least USD 300 billion’ for Iran’s reconstruction and development.”
I don’t want Iran to get any of my tax money, whether they change their behavior or not.
Vance also confirmed that Iran no longer has a nuclear weapons program, but we won’t stop them from having missiles or weapons:
“The nuclear weapons program is destroyed. It is gone. If the Iranians decided tomorrow to build a nuclear weapon, they simply don’t have the capacity in order to do that.” – VP Vance”What we’re trying to ensure is they don’t rebuild that capacity not just a year from now, two years from now, but many, many years from now, so that our children never have to worry about a state sponsor of terrorism having a nuclear weapon.””You can’t tell a country whether Israel or Iran, they’re not allowed to have any self-defense… But as part of the final deal, what we want to see is Iran not funding regional instability, funding regional terrorism, and of course, trying to rebuild their nuclear weapons program. That’s the main thing.”
People have criticized the MOU (rightfully) because it is a travesty and one-sided. Reporters asked Vance about the criticism.
How did Vance respond? We need to give Iran some grace.
Yeah, I’m not kidding:
I’ve seen skeptics of the deal. People say the Iranians will never change their behavior. Well, maybe that’s true, and if so, they don’t get any of the benefits of the bargain.But isn’t it worth trying? Isn’t it worth seeing whether this incredibly weakened position that the President of the United States has put the Iranians under, whether that motivates them to change their behavior, not just vis-a-vis the West, but vis-a-vis the Middle East?And one of the interesting things about this is, you know, the technical details of this, we can, of course, get into; there are going to be any number of opinions about the negotiation about where it’s ultimately going to go, but I tend to think that you should trust the people who know the Iranians the best and who have the most to lose. What are the Gulf Arab states saying about this deal? What are they saying about this deal compared to the JCPOA in 2015? This is the Obama nuclear deal.Well, back then, they hated that deal. They felt like it empowered the Iranians to be bad actors across the region, and, of course, that’s exactly what happened. They were right about that.What are they saying about the president’s peace deal? They’re saying this is an amazingly transformative thing for the region because either way, we and the broader region win. Iran is weakened, their nuclear program destroyed, their economy in desperate straits, and if they change their behavior, big things are going to happen for Iran, for the world. If they don’t, no skin off our backs. Either way, we win, and that’s the way the President has set up this deal and its negotiation.
Vance ended the press conference with a parting shot towards Israel over reports that the MOU has angered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials:
Now I saw the Axios report that Netanyahu is fuming. That’s not reflective of the conversations that I’ve had with him, but maybe he’s saying something to somebody else that he’s not saying to me.What I will say, and this does bother me, is that you have seen people within Bibi’s cabinet who have come out and attacked the deal, and in some ways very personally attacked the President of the United States, and I guess my message to them would be twofold.Number one, 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, and he happens to be the head of state of the world superpower. 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.And the second message I would give to some of those cabinet members, Bibi, to his credit, has not gone down this path, but to some of these cabinet members in Israel who are attacking the President of the United States, the other thing that I would say is that 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.The problem for Israel is not Donald J. Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the President of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.
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