From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Vance claims general trajectory of Iran talks is still positive, despite escalating strikes
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US Vice President JD Vance insists that the general trajectory of the memorandum of understanding with Iran remains positive, despite the apparently escalating tensions between the sides.
Asked on Joe Rogan’s podcast about the status of Iran negotiations, Vance claims that there is a divide in Iran’s leadership between pragmatists who want to make a deal with the US and hardliners who don’t.
He says the hardliners “freaked out” after the deal was made because they saw how much oil the US was able to get out of the Strait of Hormuz and began targeting ships there as a result.
“They’ve basically said, ‘We’re going to try to shut this thing down. We’re scared about losing our leverage.’ The pragmatists in their system are saying, ‘This was a mistake. Let’s keep on talking,'” Vance claims.
Joe Rogan asks JD Vance why President Trump keeps saying a deal has been made with Iran and then starts bombing them again.
Vance: “We are on the right trajectory, it’s just going to be really messy. There’s going to be a lot of starts and stops.” pic.twitter.com/FimEZHfGJK
— The American Conservative (@amconmag) July 15, 2026
“Do I know how this is ultimately going to shake out? Of course I don’t. But what we’re doing is a delicate diplomatic dance where we’re using economic leverage points, we’re using carrots and sticks, we’re trying to talk to the pragmatists, and then of course when they commit acts of violence, we’re responding to it,” Vance says.
“All of those things are happening simultaneously to get us on a better trajectory. Yes, they’re shooting right now, but with all that said, is their nuclear program still destroyed? Yes. In the context of the broader negotiation… things are happening simultaneously to get us on a better trajectory,” he claims.
While the US has claimed Iran’s nuclear program has been destroyed, Tehran still has stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and other nuclear enrichment sites that have not been targeted by the US.
For his part, Vance also says more oil is now getting out of Hormuz than during the war.
He goes on to blast conservative hawks in the US whose only solution is to “bomb Iran into oblivion.”
He says they want to try and topple the regime, even though US experience with trying to do that has not been positive and requires a massive deployment of ground troops.
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