Vance on the clock with Iran deal under fire 

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Vice President Vance is now officially on the clock to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, as he takes political fire from all sides for his leading role in a memorandum of understanding that failed to extract significant concessions from Tehran.  

The vice president’s role as the public face of Iran negotiations was further cemented yesterday as he stepped into the White House briefing room to defend President Trump’s preliminary deal with Iran, which creates a 60-day window for further talks.  

“We’re going to start the 60-day clock today,” Vance said at the briefing. 

Vance sought to downplay the more controversial aspects of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) — including provisions that immediately lift sanctions on Iranian oil exports and eventually creates a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran.  

The vice president was slated to travel to Switzerland this weekend to start talks, but the White House said Thursday night the trip was being postponed. 

From the podium, the vice president repudiated his former Senate Republican colleagues who have increasingly called into question the advice that Trump is getting on Iran. He urged critics to “have a little faith” in Trump, saying much of “what I’ve read or heard that people believe about this is fundamentally untrue.” 

“The idea that he is going to strike a deal that’s been bad for the American people, it’s preposterous,” Vance said of the president. “He is the person who has had the courage to fundamentally transform our relationship with Iran and with a lot of other countries over the last year and a half.” 

Vance warned members of the Israeli Cabinet against personal attacks on the president. 

“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,” Vance said. 

The vice president was asked to respond to some of the specific criticisms of the deal, including that waiving oil sanctions provides Iran was a crucial economic lifeline and gives up leverage that could have secured more favorable nuclear concessions.  

“We didn’t see that as a major concession to the Iranians, frankly,” he said, arguing the sanctions were inneffective anyway.  

The administration argues that most of the other controversial pieces of the deal, such as the $300 billion reconstruction fund, are tied to Iran agreeing to hand over its enriched uranium and ending its nuclear enrichment program. 

Still, the list of GOP critics of the deal is steadily growing: Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chair of the Armed Services Committee, and Deb Fischer (Neb.), the second-ranking Republican on the committee, expressed concerns about the deal on Thursday.  

“President Trump has pursued peace through strength. I hope the intermediaries working on this deal are no undermining that objective,” Wicker said in a statement.  

Vance’s central role in the Iran talks have cut a sharp contrast to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has kept a relatively low profile as Washington and Tehran have sealed the controversial deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.  

That’s fueled chatter about how the Iran war could influence their jockeying ahead of the 2028 presidential race. It’s also caused many to ask if Vance could become Trump’s fall guy if talks for a more substantive nuclear deal fall apart.  

Trump joked about that possibility in remarks at the Group of Seven (G7) summit Wednesday in France.  

“If it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD. You better be careful, JD,” Trump said. 

Vance said Thursday he’s “not at all” concerned with being blamed for the deal. 

“I think the president was joking as he often does,” Vance added.  

Not everyone understood Trump’s remark the same way. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who’s been critical of the MOU, told NOTUS of........

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