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Deal Announced, Doubts Persist
Former Vice President Mike Pence cast doubt on the possibility of a U.S.-Iran peace deal shortly before President Trump announced a deal has been reached, telling NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt on “The Hill Sunday” that “I just don’t trust the Iranians.”
“Vice President of the United States: Iran Should Not Test Trump's Resolve”
Pence said that unless the Iranians “forfeit and dismantle their nuclear program, dismantle their missile program, immediately open the straits and stop subsidizing terrorist groups across the region,” the U.S. should “let the armed forces of the United States of America finish the job.”
In a Sunday post on X, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was “pleased to announce that the Peace Deal between the United States of America and Islamic Republic of Iran has been REACHED.”
Trump said in a Sunday evening Truth Social post that “the Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete,” and he authorized “the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz” and “the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade.”
Nuclear Talks, Threats, and Options
In remarks carried by VOA Farsi, Iran’s foreign minister said that if the United States abandons the nuclear deal, “we will have 'other options'.”
The same VOA Farsi report quotes Mohammad Javad Zarif in Bratislava saying, “Of course Iran’s options are not limited, but our hope and willingness and preference is to fully implement the agreement; a deal that is not bilateral so that one side can tear it up.”
DW reported that the New York Times said Donald Trump was examining the option of a military attack on one of Iran’s nuclear facilities, and it said Trump raised the issue in the presence of senior political and military officials including Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, and General Mark Milley.
DW also said the New York Times suggested the target could have been Iran’s Natanz nuclear facilities, and it noted that the IAEA report cited Iran’s stock of enriched uranium as “currently 12 times higher than what was foreseen in the nuclear deal.”
Verification, Sanctions, and Regional Stakes
In a speech to AIPAC reported by رادیو فردا, Mike Pence accused Tehran of spending more than $4 billion last year to fund “terrorist groups,” and he said, “Iran's dangerous provocations will not go unanswered.”
“The New York Times published news that Donald Trump was examining the option of a military attack on one of Iran's nuclear facilities”
The same report says Pence warned that the nuclear deal would either be reformed or the United States would not extend its sanctions relief, and it quotes him: “If the nuclear agreement with Iran is not reformed in the coming months, the United States will immediately withdraw from it.”
BBC reported Pence telling ABC News that “It would be better for Iran not to test the resolve and will of the new president,” and it quoted him saying Iran’s “ballistic missile tests and support for the Houthis in Yemen” would amount to testing Trump’s resolve.
BBC also said the United States added 25 officials and companies to the Iran sanctions list after Iran’s missile test, and it quoted Sean Spicer saying the sanctions make clear that “the nuclear deal has not been in America’s interest.”
