From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
‘Israel may not like that’: Touting potential ‘home run’ deal, Vance says key US objective is preventing Iran from getting nukes
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US Vice President JD Vance says the United States and Israel “have a lot of shared interests, but we also have some situations where our interests diverge,” as Fox News host Jesse Waters begins an interview by asking him how “concerned are you about Israel spying on the United States and freelancing in Lebanon?”
“I think where the president has been very clear here is that while Israel obviously has some objectives that it has, the United States’ main objective in Iran is to ensure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon,” Vance says, without actually addressing the questions posed to him.
Vance asserts that “over the last year and a half, we’ve created the space necessary where the president believes – and I think that he’s right – that we can get the long-term settlement to Iran’s nuclear deal.”
“Now, Israel may like that, they may not like that,” he adds. “But fundamentally, we think this is in the best interest of the United States of America.”
Asked if the Iranians are “trying to play” the US negotiators, Vance responds, “Everybody’s always trying to play everybody.”
He also argues that unlike the deal the Trump administration is negotiating, the problem with the 2015 nuclear agreement “is that there was not a proper inspections regime to ensure the Iranians could never build a nuclear weapon.”
“That is one of the big differences between what happened then and what the president of the United States would get to, assuming we are ultimately able to make a deal,” Vance insists.
“We’re going to take the attitude of: ‘Accomplish the president’s mission, but verify over the long term that the Iranians are keeping their end of the bargain.’ It’s a tall order, but it’s one that the president has put us in a good position to achieve.”
Vance also claims that the Iranians “don’t want this war to continue, it’s not in their best interest, and I think they are coming to the table and putting some things on the table. We are of course going to verify it, but if we get this deal it’s going to be a home run win for the American people.”
The Times of Israel Community.