‘Iran has committed to destroy and dispose of highly enriched material,’ says Vance

US Vice-President JD Vance said on Monday that Iran has “committed to destroy and dispose of their stockpile of highly enriched material” and to “never develop or procure a nuclear weapon.” Vance further said in an interview to CNBC that Iran would have to undergo a verification process to ensure it holds up its side of the deal, and only then will the US lift sanctions.

Vance said if Iran honours its obligations and allows real inspections of its nuclear programme, then the US will welcome it back into the world economy.

“We say to the Iranians, you are welcome to have access to an unsanctioned economy, you’re welcome to be re-invited into the world economy, but only if you honour the commitments that you make in this agreement,” he said.

“So that’s the leverage point and simultaneously the enforcement mechanism we have over their nuclear programme.”

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“Iran will have a much better and much more prosperous future if they meet the obligations they make in this agreement,” Vance said, adding that the unfreezing of Iran’s financial assets is “one of the things we’re going to work out in the technical talks that will follow the official signing on Friday.”

Refutes claims of Iranian regime receiving $24 billion in frozen funds

The US vice president refuted claims that the Iranian regime would receive $24 billion in frozen funds if it hits certain benchmarks, saying the figure “doesn’t appear anywhere in any of the texts.”

“What we have said is that we are willing to talk about unfreezing assets, but a much, much bigger deal is unsanctioning their economy - so long as they make the long-term commitments on the nuclear programme,” Vance said.

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In another interview with CBS News, Vance did not rule out the possibility of US military forces being used to help ensure Iran’s compliance with an agreement on its nuclear materials, though he said he didn’t “think the US forces are going to be necessary.”

“We certainly talked with the Iranians about how we’re going to destroy that enriched stockpile. The technical details are one of the things that we’re going to work on when we start those technical talks on Friday,” Vance said.

“We’re talking about working with the IAEA and working with the Iranians to go in and destroy that enriched stockpile of material,” Vance told CBS News.

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“But what the president has made very clear is the United States will be there to confirm that that enriched stockpile of material is destroyed,” he said.

Asked whether he believed the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened beyond the 60-day period laid out in the agreement, Vance said that “our expectation is that the strait is going to be opened in a toll-free way for the long term.”

‘Trump admin plans to release full text of agreement this week’

Vance further said that the Trump administration plans to release the full text of the US-Iran agreement this week, saying, “We want the American people to see it.”

“Sometimes with these agreements, there are some diplomatic protocols, some technical things to work out, but we plan to release the full text this week,” he said.

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Vance said there is some misreporting about the terms in the agreement and clarified that the deal broadly “ensures that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, while simultaneously opening the Strait of Hormuz.”