Vice President JD Vance on Thursday pushed back against Republican criticism of President Donald Trump’s Iran agreement, arguing it is “fundamentally different” from former President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal because it prohibits uranium enrichment and comes after Iran’s nuclear program was destroyed.
“You have to remember,” Vance said, “in 2015 Iran had built a sophisticated nuclear weapons program with a nuclear weapon stockpile. So the perspective that we came at as the United States was, ‘You already have a really nice nuclear program; we’re going to bribe you with American money in order to stop it.’”
“Our perspective — and where we’re coming at it — is,” he added, “‘We already destroyed your nuclear program; and so if you promise and show verifiable pathways to not rebuild it, then we are willing to give you some sanctions relief, and things like that.’”
Vance listed several provisions he said distinguish Trump’s agreement from Obama’s, including restrictions on enrichment, enriched-material stockpiles and U.S. payments.
“Now, there are all these substantive differences as well,” Vance said. “The Obama nuclear deal allowed enrichment; ours will not.”
“The Obama deal allowed the accumulation of stockpiled weapons-grade material,” he continued. “Ours is actually leading to the destruction of that stockpile of enriched material.”
“The Obama deal gave them over a billion dollars of American money,” Vance said. “The deal gives them $0 of American money.”
“A lot of substantive differences, but I think the most important differences are where we’re coming at it from: a position of strength, and the fact that our [Persian] Gulf Coast partners love this deal.”
