Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that Pakistan, which has mediated peace negotiations between the United States and Iran, has been pushing to keep the deal’s text under wraps until Friday, but that Washington wants it released as soon as possible.
The vice president’s comments follow multiple reports purporting to show the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, but White House communications director Steven Cheung poured cold water on the reports, saying the language does not reflect the MOU.
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“[Pakistan] has asked us not to release the full text for a little while,” Vance told CBS News. “It’ll come out at the latest on Friday. We’re actually trying to push them to get it out today because we want to tell the American people what’s in this deal.”
The reported deal calls for an immediate end to all hostilities in the region, including those in Lebanon — which Israel has repeatedly struck, targeting Hezbollah — as well as the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to Iran’s nuclear program.
The U.S. and Iran are set to meet in Switzerland on Friday to sign an agreement, but President Donald Trump attended a G7 summit on Wednesday and said he would restart military operations in Iran if he didn’t like the MOU. The president added that the deal is “very strong” and that no one knows what it says.
Vance explained that by the Iranians giving in to Washington’s nuclear demands, Tehran could “get some benefits, be reinvited into the economy.”
The White House has not officially released the text of the deal, only disputing reports of a 14-point plan that ends the war for 60 days to allow a permanent peace to be negotiated.
TRUMP SAYS IRAN DEAL IS ‘VERY STRONG’ BUT ‘NOBODY KNOWS WHAT IT IS’
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that the deal is a “game changer,” claiming to have seen the text of the MOU from unnamed sources.
Carney called the deal “well structured” and pledged Canada’s help in reopening the Strait of Hormuz. He also said world leaders should “take the lessons” from the effects of the Iran war.
