THE HARD SELL: Vice President JD Vance — whose digital signature is already affixed to the memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the Iran war — made the circuit of network and cable television shows Monday to sell the agreement and dispel what he called “some misreporting about the deal.”“I think when people see this deal, we hope to release the text this week, they’re going to realize that this is going to make the whole region safer, and this is another way in which this is a transformative agreement,” Vance said on CNBC.“I’ve seen a lot of misinformation out there,” Vance told Fox News host Sean Hannity last night. “I’ve seen $24 billion going from the United States to Iran. That number is totally false, totally made-up.”
President Donald Trump weighed in on Truth Social, posting, “The story that the U.S. is paying Iran 300 million Dollars is Fake News, put out by the Dumocrats!!!”
In both cases, Trump and Vance are conflating claims from Iranian state media that $12 billion — half of the $24 billion Iranian money frozen by sanctions — would be released before phase two, nuclear talks. Iranian media has also claimed the bare-bones page-and-a-half agreement includes a commitment from other countries — not the U.S. — to help rebuild Iran with up to $300 billion in foreign investment.
