Former Vice President Mike Pence sharply rebuked President Donald Trumps reported peace agreement with Iran this week, warning that the emerging terms amount to dangerous appeasement of a hostile regime rather than a hard?nosed defense of American interests.
According to Mediaite, Pences criticism came as details began to surface about a purported 14-point Memorandum of Understanding that the administration has not yet formally released. The deal, announced by President Trump on Sundayhis 80th birthdaywas billed as an accord to end the war with Iran, with the president also declaring on Truth Social that the vital Strait of Hormuz would be reopened once the agreement is signed on Friday, June 19.
In the days since that announcement, Trump officials and members of Congress have faced mounting questions about the specific contours of the deal, particularly from conservatives wary of repeating the failed engagement strategies of past Democratic administrations. On Tuesday, a Saudi-backed media outlet read what it claimed was the full text of the memorandum, including a pledge of $300 billion for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, along with a U.S. commitment to lift sanctions that have been central to Washingtons leverage over Tehran.
Pence, speaking to CNNs Kaitlan Collins, argued that such concessions would reward the very forces that have fueled instability and terror across the Middle East. Calling for the United States and others to arrange for a $300 billion reconstruction fund, when the IRGC and radical Islamists continue to be at the helm in Iran, is deeply ill-advised; and again, I believe it smacks of the kind of appeasement that we saw during the Obama years, the kind of appeasement that Joe Biden tried to accomplish and was ignored by the Iranians, and we rejected categorically during the first Trump administration, he said.
From Pences perspective, the United States should not be in the business of underwriting Irans economy while its Revolutionary Guard remains entrenched and Israels security is still under threat. I think the president should just simply stand firm, draw that red line, and if the Iranians wont come to those fundamental terms that are in the interest of our security, Israels security, and the peace and stability of the region, then I think we ought to let the armed forces of the United States open the strait and eliminate the threat on our terms, he added, underscoring a preference for strength over compromise.
When Collins suggested that his description made the deal sound like a mistake, Pence went further, casting it as a reversal of the decisive posture that has defined President Trumps approach to Iran. Well, its much bigger than a mistake. I mean, when the president took that historic step to strike those nuclear facilities last year, this is the first time in 47 years that an American president had taken the fight directly to the mullahs in Tehran, and America was safer as a result, Pence said, praising the earlier decision to confront the regime militarily rather than rely on paper promises.
He pointed to the subsequent campaign against Iran as proof that pressure, not payouts, yields results. And the fact that he tried diplomacy for the following year to begin to make progress, and then finally recognized that we just got to take the fight to them, launched Operation Epic Fury. Our military responded brilliantly, Pence recalled, framing the operation as a model of American resolve that should not now be undercut by sweeping sanctions relief.
Pence warned that early concessions would throw a lifeline to Tehrans rulers at the very moment they should be facing maximum pressure. But in this moment, the posture that were getting from the Iranians but my concern is what appears to be leaking out these immediate concessions, particularly sanctions waivers right out of the gate, that would would essentially be a lifeline to the Iranian regime. I think it is ill-advised. We ought to keep the pressure on, keep the blockade on, and if need be, let our armed forces get back to work, he said, capturing a broader conservative unease that any deal resembling the Obama-era playbook risks empowering the mullahs rather than securing lasting peace.
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