WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that Iran was “honoring” the terms of its preliminary peace deal with Washington — as a 60-day clock started to hash out a final agreement.
Vance touted swift economic relief from plummeting oil prices as he tried to stem a revolt by congressional Republicans fearful that the vague terms of the 14-point memorandum of understanding could strengthen rather than hamstring the anti-American theocracy.
“Last night, 12.5 million barrels of oil into the Strait of Hormuz. That is a high since the beginning of the conflict,” Vance said at a White House briefing.
“Gas prices dropped below $4 a gallon today for the first time since the conflict, and importantly, they’re going to keep falling further, given how low price low oil prices are.”
Vance basked in the endorsements of anti-war Pope Leo XIV — exclaiming, “Praise Jesus!” — and the endorsement of war advocate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) “now that he understands it better.”
He also gave a stern warning to Israeli officials not to alienate their “only” ally by undermining the pact.
“On the military side, the Iranians, for the second night in a row, did not shoot at any ships in the Strait of Hormuz, so far they are honoring their end of the commitment,” the vice president said.
“On the blockade, CENTCOM allowed north of a dozen ships to go through our naval blockade, and so we’re also honoring our end of the early part of the agreement.”
Vance stepped behind the White House briefing room lectern to serve as the agreement’s top salesman after Trump put him in charge of talks with Iranian officials, aided by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The event came as opponents of the deal — who view it as too soft on Iran — attempt to pin any blame for negative outcomes on Vance, which could derail his anticipated 2028 presidential campaign — a notion that Trump himself jokingly referenced Thursday, saying: “If it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD.”
“A couple of things that are still true and will be true, whether the Iranians comply with the rest of the deal or not,” Vance said.
“Their nuclear program has been completely destroyed. Their capacity for enrichment, the facilities at which they were using to develop enrichment and develop potential nuclear weapons, those facilities are still destroyed. Their conventional military is still destroyed. Their capacity to threaten their neighbors is still largely gone.”
He added: “And now we see whether they are willing to comply with the next step of the president’s peace plan. As you all know, the part of the peace plan.”
Vance admitted that the next steps remain cloudy and that his anticipated Friday trip to Switzerland for followup talks with Iranian officials may be delayed.
“Our plan is to go to Switzerland. I don’t know exactly when. The way that we’re setting up this technical negotiation is that obviously you’re going to have the political leadership involved,” he said.
The MOU commits the US to unfreeze Iranian funds, lift oil sanctions and bless a $300 billion Gulf Arab fund to rebuild the war-ravaged nation.
“The United States isn’t giving up a cent of money to Iran, and even the economic benefits — the sanctions relief, and so forth — that comes along with this bargain only happens if the Iranians perform,” Vance said.
He said that he was unsure of the precise quantity of frozen Iranian funds, but said much of it was held abroad by US-allied countries that defer to Washington.
“I’ve heard numbers north of $100 billion. I’ve actually heard numbers north of $200 billion. Most of it is not in United States accounts; most of it’s either in the Gulf, or in Europe, or somewhere else,” Vance said.
“We’re not releasing a single dollar of that money until the Iranians perform.”
He said if the Iranians take “meaningful steps,” such as steps toward the destruction of deeply buried highly enriched uranium, it would allow for the unlocking of money.
Vance also argued that the US oil sanctions were ineffective before the war — as the vast majority of exports flowed to China without consequence — and that lifting the blockade was the true reprieve for the lucrative market.
“There are real divisions within their country about how exactly to proceed, and what we’ve seen over the last couple of months is that the pragmatists within the Iranian system… are winning the argument, the United States wants those people win the argument,” Vance said.
“You really have a win-win situation for the United States of America. If the Iranians don’t change their behavior, their military and their nuclear program is still destroyed. If they do change their behavior, then they are going to have a transformative relationship with the Middle East.”
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