Vice President JD Vance said that the war against Iran has resulted in Gulf Arab states seeking deeper ties with Tehran.
“Because of the conversations they’re having with the Iranians. The Emiratis — by far the most hawkish, by far the most pro-Israel country in the [Gulf Cooperation Council] — they’re having conversations with the Iranians that have never happened before, including with the IRGC, about various types of economic incentives,” Vance told Upheard on Thursday. “‘Here’s what we’d need to see to make your country investable’ — and the Iranians come back and say, ‘Okay, yeah, we’re willing to do all those things.’”
Most of the GCC countries host major US military bases and were attacked by Iran during the war. Since Washington and Tehran entered into negotiations, GCC members have discussed establishing a new security framework for Iran.
Additionally, the memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran includes the establishment of a $300 billion investment fund to rebuild Iran.
While Vance is touting the deepening ties between the GCC and Iran, it is a setback for one of President Donald Trump’s main Middle East projects. The President has brokered a series of agreements between Israel and muslim states known as the Abraham Accords. Part of the goal of the accords was to establish a more united bloc in the Middle East against Iran.
The Vice President is attempting to sell the deal being negotiated with Iran as a victory for the US. One criticism of the MOU is that it resembles the 2015 Iran Nuclear agreement or JCPOA, which the President has frequently referred to as one of the worst deals ever made.
“Things radically different from the JCPOA,” Vance asserted. “There are many things I don’t like about the comparison to the JCPOA.”
“But one of them is that the MOU is a much more generic document than the JCPOA.” He continued, “It really is a foundational document: let’s open the Strait, let’s stop shooting at each other, and let’s see if we can make a nuclear deal. And from their perspective, it’s, ‘Let’s lift the blockade, let’s stop shooting at each other, and let’s see if there’s a sanctions deal.’ That’s fundamentally where it’s coming from.”
