Vance Rips Media Coverage of $300 Billion Fund to Iran, Which He Confirmed in the First Place

Vice President JD Vance briefed the press from the White House podium on Thursday and scolded the media for what he claims are misrepresentations of the Trump administration’s deal with Iran. Vance singled out the $300 billion fund for Iran as something the press had gotten wrong, despite the fact that Vance was the first administration official to confirm its existence during his extensive media tour earlier in the week.

“On the military side, the Iranians, for the second night in a row, did not shoot at any ships in the Strait of Hormuz so far. They are honoring their end of the commitment. And on the blockade, CENTCOM has allowed north of a dozen ships to go through our naval blockade. And so we’re also honoring our end of the early part of the agreement,” Vance said during his lengthy opening remarks, eventually adding:

And now we see whether they are willing to comply with the next step of the president’s plan.

As you all know, the part of the peace plan, the part of this MOU that I think has been most misrepresented by certain parts of the media, is the idea that the Iranians get all these benefits. You will hear things about $300 billion, or $24 billion, or this or that number — or amount — of money. And the simple fact is that the only way the Iranians get any of those resources — not a single penny, by the way, from the United States of America under any circumstances — but the only way that they would ever get any benefit of the bargain is if they comply fully and change their behavior.

And so you really have a win-win situation for the United States of America. If the Iranians don’t change their behavior, their military and their nuclear program are still destroyed. If they do change their behavior, then they are going to have a transformative relationship with the Middle East, and the Middle East will have a transformative relationship with the people of Iran. That’s a win for the American people and for the President of the United States, regardless of which option the Iranians ultimately choose. We obviously want them to choose the right option.

Notably, Vance told CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe on Monday exactly what he claimed from the White House podium and what was then reported throughout the media.

“Walk through some of this. The Iranians are saying that they’re gonna have access to a $300 billion reconstruction fund, true or false?” O’Keefe asked Vance as details of the agreement were scant at the time and Iran was making what appeared to be wild claims about its contents.

“Well, Ed, that’s the sort of thing they could have access to, funded by the Gulf coast coalition, so long as they honor their end of the obligation. I think that one of the things you’re going to see, Ed—and people have to be skeptical of this—is that the hardliners in the Iranian system will overemphasize the benefits that Iran gets, while underemphasizing all the things that they have to concede and all the things they have to provide in order to get these benefits,” Vance replied.

Vance wrapped his opening remarks at Thursday’s briefing with a swipe at the media, urging honesty in reporting.

“So what I’d ask all of you is just to report honestly that the United States isn’t giving up a cent of money to Iran, and even the economic benefits — the sanctions relief and so forth that comes along with this bargain — it only happens if the Iranians perform,” Vance insisted.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

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