With about 24 hours remaining before a planned memorandum of understanding with Iran is due to be signed in Switzerland, Vice President JD Vance has raised fresh uncertainty over whether the closely watched ceremony will go ahead.
The proposed MOU sets out a framework for the United States and Iran to begin winding down hostilities and open negotiations aimed at ending a war that has now stretched on for three and a half months.
According to the agreement, which Donald Trump signed at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday evening, US sanctions on Iranian oil exports would be lifted immediately.
The document also includes provisions to guarantee free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and to bring the US naval blockade in the region to an end.
Trump said earlier this week that Vance would oversee Friday’s signing ceremony in Lucerne, Switzerland, joking: “This way, if it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD.”
When asked by reporters on Thursday whether he still expected to make the trip, Vance said he “suspects” he will, a remark that appeared to leave the final decision in question.
‘I plan to go to Switzerland … we think these technical negotiation areas start sometime this weekend,’ Vance said. ‘That’s still the plan, but that could change because it’s not an easy country, Iran, to get out of, and so we’re trying to figure out exactly when that’s going to happen.’
Vice President JD Vance cast doubt on the scheduled signing ceremony for the MOU between Iran and the US, set for Friday in Switzerland
Vance explains that he ‘suspects’ that the trip is still on, noting how Iran is ‘not an easy country’
‘I suspect this weekend, but I’m not sure,’ he added. ‘We’re trying to figure that out as we speak, but again, I suspect it will happen this weekend.’
There have been mixed signals from the administration over when the MOU was signed and what has been agreed to.
Senior administration officials told reporters on Monday that Trump, Vance and Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf signed a digital version of the MOU on Sunday.
Then an Axios report indicated the MOU had actually not been signed.
The senior officials also said Monday the text of the MOU would be published within 48 hours, but a copy of the agreement has not been released. Instead, those senior officials relayed the contents of the MOU to reporters over a phone call.
Then, after signalling publicly that the MOU would be signed in a Friday ceremony with Vance in Switzerland, the administration said that Trump officially signed the MOU at Versailles sometime on Wednesday evening.
Now, Vance says the ceremony is suspected sometime this weekend, indicating the Friday event is up in the air.
‘We are told that the Iranians are taking their sweet time to respond, proving further that they are the ones who have the leverage,’ a source familiar with the Iran talks explained to the Daily Mail.
Trump said that a signing ceremony was to take place with Vance on Friday, joking that ‘This way, if it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD’
A reporter pressed Trump, saying one of the goals of Epic Fury was to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles
An employee at the Burgenstock Hotel in Lucerne, where the signing is supposed to happen, told the Daily Mail that the rooms booked for the event have not been canceled.
Vance also pushed back on reports indicating that Iran will get money as part of the MOU.
The MOU includes sanction relief for Iran if it complies with the deal, giving it access to frozen funds and a proposed $300 billion reconstruction plan.
‘The United States isn’t giving up a cent of money to Iran,’ Vance said.
‘What President Trump and his talented national security team – including both Vice President Vance and Secretary Rubio – achieved on the battlefield and at the negotiating table is nothing short of remarkable and will strengthen American security for years to come,’ White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said in a statement.
‘Everyone is fully behind President Trump’s efforts to ensure Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.’
Though some Republicans on Capitol Hill are skeptical of the deal and are demanding to know more.
Trump and Vance have said that Iran will be able to retain some ballistic missile capabilities as a part of the MOU
The White House has said repeatedly that one of the stated objectives of the war was to obliterate Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities
‘I don’t wanna see JCPOA 2.0,’ GOP Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said of the MOU, referring to ex-President Barak Obama’s deal with Iran that Trump has criticized.
GOP skeptics are concerned about the $300 billion reconstruction fund and whether US taxpayer funds will go into it – which the administration claims won’t happen.
There’s also questions about why the administration is fine with Iran retaining its ballistic missile capabilities after the White House repeatedly stressed that one of the goals of the war was to obliterate the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile program.
Vance and the President have said that it is crucial for Iran to retain an ability to defend itself while answering questions about why the country is being allowed to retain its missiles.
‘The Iranians don’t give up the right of self defense in their country, but we do expect that as part of the final deal they are not going to be able to build the kind of missiles that can broadly threaten the entire world,’ Vance said.
