Vance Defends U.S. Iran Deal, Says Netanyahu Likely Knows Its Details

U.S. Vice President JD Vance defended the Trump administration’s deal with Iran in a detailed interview on The New York Times podcast published June 18, 2026. He argued that the agreement is materially different from Barack Obama’s 2015 JCPOA because, in his words, it requires the destruction of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and blocks Tehran from keeping it.

Vance said Iran is now in a position of extreme weakness after large parts of its conventional military and nuclear program were damaged in fighting. He said the stockpile’s destruction has already been agreed in the memorandum of understanding, along with a defined mechanism for carrying it out. He added that any future economic benefits for Iran would come from foreign investment, not American taxpayers, and would only follow a change in Tehran’s behavior. “It’s a dial,” he said. “We’re going to turn the dial up as they turn the dial up.”

Pressed by interviewer Ross Douthat on why the deal is unpopular in Israel, Vance said many Israelis are reacting out of “misinformation” and panic. He emphasized that the administration will follow U.S. interests when they diverge from Israeli political preferences. On Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Vance said, “I don’t think Bibi himself really criticized the deal. Because I think he may be a little more familiar with the details of what’s in it.”

Vance singled out Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, saying they attacked the agreement and asking, “What exactly is your proposal? You are a country of nine million people. You cannot simply kill your way out of every single national security problem you have.” He said Hezbollah’s activity would be affected “completely,” rejected fears that Iran could get sanctions relief while still funding terrorism, and concluded that the U.S. is focused on “real problems, not abstract problems.”