Vice President JD Vance said that the US had achieved its core objective in Iran by preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Vance and President Donald Trump have recently said that the US plans to denuclearize Iran. 

“We have all the cards in the negotiation,” Vance told Fox News on Tuesday. “We obviously want it to be successful, but even if it’s not successful, we’ve accomplished the core mission, which is to ensure that the Iranians never have a nuclear weapon.”

However, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that underpins the ongoing negotiations contains several concessions to Iran, including a ceasefire in Lebanon, the lifting of the blockade of Iranian ports, and the removal of sanctions on Iran. 

While Vance claims that Washington achieved its core goal in getting nuclear concessions from Iran, the MOU does not require Iran to make restrictions to its nuclear program beyond what the Islamic Republic was offering before the war started. 

Both Trump and Vance have asserted this week that the goal is to “denuclearize Iran,” but nothing in the calls on Iran to dismantle its nuclear program. Tehran has long used nuclear facilities for civilian purposes, and has never attempted to make a nuclear weapon. 

Additionally, Tehran secured other strategic victories during the conflict, including gaining control of the Strait of Hormuz, forcing Gulf states to negotiate a new security framework with Tehran, and establishing a ceasefire in Israel that requires an IDF withdrawal.