Vice President J.D. Vance said Thursday that the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding is the first step toward regional stability, and struck back at critics who argued the agreement rewarded Tehran.
When asked by The Washington Times about reports that Iran was funneling oil profits to Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, Mr. Vance said Tehran’s continued support for its terror proxies is precisely the reason the pact was needed in the first place.
“It’s interesting that people will say the MOU is bad because the MOU produces consequences that were actually happening well before the MOU was signed,” he said. “That’s not a reflection of the MOU; that’s a reflection of why we need the MOU to ensure we have the regional peace and stability we need.”
Reports this week indicated that Iran looks to bolster Hezbollah’s financial and political situation inside Lebanon following the signing of the U.S.-Iran MOU, which could release billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.
Under the reported terms of the pact, the U.S. committed to immediately issuing waivers to allow for the export of Iranian crude oil and to make fully available the frozen or restricted funds and assets of Iran.
However, U.S. officials have insisted that Iran will not receive any sanctions relief or a single dollar of frozen funds until it fulfils its duties under the MOU. But none of the agreement’s 14 points strictly outlaws Iran continuing to fund Hezbollah or other proxy groups.
Still, Mr. Vance insisted that because of the way financial sanctions are constructed, the Trump administration has “great confidence” that the U.S. will be able to see if Iran continues to fund terror organizations like Hezbollah.
Iran has been Hezbollah’s primary benefactor for years, funneling at least $1 billion to the organization in the first 10 months of 2025, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
And this year, funding from Iran has helped Hezbollah launch repeated rocket and missile attacks on Israel over the past three months.
• Kerry Picket contributed to this story.
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