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Hey, it's Will Salatan from the Bulwark. You know, Donald Trump and his people lie every day, but it takes a special kind of liar, a complete phony, to sign a written agreement with Iran and then, and then lie to you about what is literally in the agreement. And that is exactly what J.D. vance, our beloved vice president, is doing this week. So today I'm going to show you what Vance says about the Iran deal, and then I'm going to show you what's actually in the deal. Okay, so the whole point of this war was supposed to be to stop Iran's nuclear program. And Vance claims that under this deal, Iran has agreed to nuclear inspections. Here's what he told NBC.
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Will nuclear inspectors be allowed back in? Yes, absolutely. That's, in fact, one of the core parts of the agreement is that the IAEA and the United States are going to help Iran destroy the highly enriched stockpile. And that's something that's spelled out very clearly in the mou.
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It's spelled out very clearly. He says, oh, it's a core part of the agreement, he says. And he said the same thing on CBS.
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The text is very clear. There's nothing about $24 billion. What there is clarity about, though, Ed, is that Iran gives up their nuclear nuclear program for the long haul. They allow a real inspections regime.
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A real inspections regime. He says. Oh, oh. He says. The text is very clear. Okay, so let's look at the text. Here is the full text of paragraph 8 of the Iran deal as published by FOX News. So this is the paragraph that covers the nuclear program. There is, there's nothing, there's nothing in this paragraph about inspectors. It says the iaea, the International Atomic Energy Agency will show up one time at the beginning and then nothing. There's, there's no follow up. There's no inspection regime. So that's lie number one. Okay, so let's move on. Vance claims that Iran has agreed in this deal to permanently destroy its enriched uranium. And here's what he told Ross Douthit of the New York Times.
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The Obama Iran deal allowed them to generate a stockpile of enriched uranium. Our deal ensures that that stockpile is destroyed and eliminated. When people say, you know, is the destruction actually in the Memorandum of understanding?
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The answer is yes, it's in the memorandum of understanding. He says, okay, that is the, the formal title of the deal, the MoU. Under the deal, he says, the nuclear material is destroyed, it's eliminated. And here's what he said at the White House on Thursday.
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They have promised that they would allow inspectors in to destroy that highly enriched stockpile. And then, of course, it's not usable anymore. You take it somewhere else.
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It's not usable anymore. He says, really? Here's what paragraph 8 actually says. Let's put it back up on the screen. It says Iran has agreed to quote down blending of stockpiled enriched material. It doesn't even say all enriched material. And what exactly is down blending? Here's a report from the foundation for Defense of Democracies. It explains that down blending is not. It is not destruction of nuclear material. It is dilution of the material. And here's the fun part. It says the dilution is reversible. So when Vance tells you that under the deal the nuclear material will be destroyed, that it won't be usable anymore, he is lying. Okay, next, Vance claims that under the deal, Iran will no longer sponsor terrorism.
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It does go and say, look, if the Iranians are willing to change their ways, if they're willing to behave like a normal country, stop trying to build a nuclear weapon, stop trying to fund terrorism all over the Middle east, then we are willing to actually fundamentally transform our relationship with them. That's what the President has offered. Now, of course, we would need to verify that. We would need to see real progress and real action. They know that's part of the deal. Absolutely. It's written right there in the agreement, Sean.
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It's. It's right there in the agreement. He says, in fact, he can tell you exactly where it is. It's in the first.
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The first paragraph, what paragraph one of the agreements says is effectively that Iran commits itself, just as the United States commits itself, to regional peace and stability. And part of that, Jake, is that the Iranians have to stop funding violent terrorist organizations. They have to stop funding regional instability.
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Okay, so here is paragraph one. I'm looking at it, and I'm looking for anything about peace or stability, and I'm not seeing it. And in fact, those words, peace or stability, they don't appear anywhere, anywhere in this document. So the paragraph says Iran and America will stop their, quote, military operations. That's us. They mean we, the United States, we will stop our military operations because we're the ones who do our killing through.
Title: The Staggering Dishonesty of JD Vance's Iran Deal Spin
Date: June 19, 2026
Host: Will Saletan (The Bulwark)
Main Theme:
Will Saletan dissects recent public statements by Vice President J.D. Vance regarding the new U.S.-Iran nuclear agreement, highlighting significant discrepancies between Vance's claims and the actual text of the deal. The episode focuses on exposing misrepresentations about nuclear inspections, uranium destruction, and Iran’s alleged commitment to stop funding terrorism.
Saletan opens by denouncing the level of dishonesty shown by Vance, noting, "It takes a special kind of liar, a complete phony, to sign a written agreement with Iran and then, and then lie to you about what is literally in the agreement." (Will Saletan, [00:08])
Vance’s claim:
"Will nuclear inspectors be allowed back in? Yes, absolutely. That's, in fact, one of the core parts of the agreement." (J.D. Vance, [00:47])
"The text is very clear. There’s nothing about $24 billion. What there is clarity about, though, Ed, is that Iran gives up their nuclear program for the long haul. They allow a real inspections regime." (J.D. Vance, [01:16])
Saletan’s rebuttal:
Vance’s assertions:
"Our deal ensures that [Iran’s enriched uranium] stockpile is destroyed and eliminated." (J.D. Vance, [02:21]) "They have promised that they would allow inspectors in to destroy that highly enriched stockpile. And then, of course, it's not usable anymore." (J.D. Vance, [02:54])
Saletan checks the actual text:
"When Vance tells you that under the deal the nuclear material will be destroyed, that it won’t be usable anymore, he is lying." (Will Saletan, [03:21])
Vance’s repeated claims:
"The Iranians have to stop funding violent terrorist organizations. They have to stop funding regional instability...It’s written right there in the agreement, Sean." (J.D. Vance, [04:38]) "What paragraph one of the agreement says is effectively that Iran commits itself...to regional peace and stability." (J.D. Vance, [04:38])
Saletan’s response:
"I’m looking for anything about peace or stability, and I’m not seeing it. In fact, those words...they don’t appear anywhere in this document." ([04:55])
Will Saletan’s Core Critique:
"It takes a special kind of liar, a complete phony, to sign a written agreement with Iran and then, and then lie to you about what is literally in the agreement." ([00:08])
J.D. Vance’s Unambiguous Declarations:
"Yes, absolutely. That's, in fact, one of the core parts of the agreement is that the IAEA and the United States are going to help Iran destroy the highly enriched stockpile." ([00:47]) "They have promised that they would allow inspectors in to destroy that highly enriched stockpile. And then, of course, it's not usable anymore." ([02:54]) "It's written right there in the agreement, Sean." ([04:31])
Saletan’s Reality Check:
"Down blending is not destruction of nuclear material. It is dilution of the material. And here's the fun part: The dilution is reversible." ([03:15]) "Those words, 'peace' or 'stability,' they don’t appear anywhere, anywhere in this document." ([04:55])
Saletan is direct, forceful, and often sardonic, emphasizing the brazenness of Vance’s claims. The tone is one of exposing deception with precise fact-checking, underpinning The Bulwark’s pro-democracy, truth-driven editorial stance.