Vance Says Israel Will Join US Iran Deal Ahead of Friday Signing

by | Jun 16, 2026 | News

Vice President JD Vance said Monday he believes Israel will eventually become a party to the emerging US Iran agreement, ahead of a new round of nuclear talks set to begin Friday once a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran is formally signed.

In a string of TV interviews, Vance told NBC the deal would make Israel and the wider region safer, and blamed misinformation in both Iranian and Israeli media for confusion about its terms. He predicted Israelis would embrace the agreement as a pathway to a new Middle East once they understood it, adding that he felt confident they would come around further down the road.

On Sunday, Trump announced that Washington and Tehran had signed a memorandum to extend their ceasefire by 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while pursuing a long term resolution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. Already signed digitally, the document is set for a formal signing in Switzerland on Friday, the same day the two sides begin fresh negotiations. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Trump aides Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will attend alongside Vance.

Araghchi warned that any Israeli attack on Lebanon, or continued presence there, would violate the interim deal. Israeli troops remain deep in southern Lebanon, where the military has struck targets since Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 in support of Tehran. Araghchi framed the parties as the US and Israel on one side, Iran and Hezbollah on the other.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed Monday that Israel is not a party to the memorandum and does not yet know its full details. Opposition figures and even some of his own ministers have criticized the deal as a diplomatic failure that could hamper Israel’s operations in Lebanon. Netanyahu said troops would stay in the southern buffer zone for as long as necessary.

Trump declared overnight that Iran had agreed never to build a nuclear weapon, a commitment Tehran has long claimed to honor. Vance said removal of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile and IAEA inspections are core parts of the deal, though he acknowledged the text runs only about a page and a half and leaves many issues for later technical talks. Reports suggest some senior US officials remain skeptical that Iran will follow through.

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