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Former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday tore into President Trump’s tentative deal between the U.S. and Iran as he deemed the agreement to be a “plan to make a plan.”
Pence started an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal by commending Trump for “acting decisively” by launching a military campaign against Iran. He wrote that all Americans should welcome peace, as nobody “wants another prolonged war in the Middle East, despite the flippant accusations from isolationists on the populist right.”
“But the memorandum of understanding with Iran signed last week falls well short of what is required to end the Iranian threat. It smacks of the kind of appeasement the president rightly rejected during our first term,” Pence continued. “It isn’t the deal a defeated Iran should be getting. It isn’t even a deal—it’s a plan to make a plan.”
Pence wrote that the 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Iran does not “capitalize” on the debilitated state of Iran’s military capabilities as a result of the conflict.
But he said it was “most troubling” that the MOU does not require Iran to dismantle its nuclear program, nor does it put an end to its uranium enrichment. Leaving Iran’s ballistic missile capacity intact and “Iranian support for terrorist organizations” in the MOU are also “equally concerning,” the former vice president added.
“And while the agreement’s timeline postpones answers on critical nuclear questions, it provides immediate economic benefits through partial sanctions relief and renewed energy exports, which will generate an estimated $5 billion a month for what remains of the Iranian regime,” Pence wrote. “That gets the sequence backward. The U.S. shouldn’t provide economic relief first and seek security concessions later. We should secure the concessions first.”
Pence said the U.S.’s military offensive has made it possible for Iran to agree to American demands over its nuclear program, missile capacity and support for terrorist organizations. He also called for “freedom of navigation” to be restored in the Strait of Hormuz “or face the full force of the American military.”
“This 60-day period should be used to secure what this agreement doesn’t yet provide: an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, an end to Iranian-backed terror, and an end to its half-century of warfare against the U.S. and Israel,” the op-ed concludes. “If those reasonable goals cannot be achieved, Mr. Trump should let the armed forces finish the job.”
Pence has previously said Trump deserves some latitude on reaching a deal with Iran to reopen the strait and give both countries 60 days to finalize the deal, but he told The Hill last Tuesday that he still has “very real concerns.” He was also doubtful about the tentative deal just before it was reached last Sunday.
Trump on Sunday warned Iran amid new Israeli strikes in Lebanon, which has tested the MOU and delayed peace talks originally scheduled for Friday led by Vice President Vance in Switzerland. The president suggested that the U.S. may take over the strait after Iran indicated that it was again closed off.
“We may take over the strait, if we have to,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday. “I’ll blow the s— out of them.”
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