Vice President JD Vance gave something of a bottom line statement on Iran, sharing a preview of the upcoming in-person negotiations happening this weekend, as he was about to board Air Force Two and return to the U.S. on Wednesday.
The vice president spent the past day in Hungary, as RedState wrote on Tuesday, and spoke about the Iran conflict deadline that was approaching within hours. As my colleague Bob Hoge wrote:"Vance hinted at the trouble that could be soon headed their [Iran's] way":
...“They’ve got to know we’ve got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use. The president of the United States can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct,” he adds.
As Hoge noted, the clock is still ticking on Iran avoiding a bad outcome. Wednesday afternoon, VP Vance spoke on the tarmac to media on where things stand at the negotiations table.
The vice president said Iran appeared to have an "honest minunderstanding" on Lebanon being part of any ceasefire deal.
.@VP: "The Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn't. We never made that promise. We never indicated that was going to be the case." pic.twitter.com/edXLMv6PQ3
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 8, 2026
Vance says that the 10-point proposal is not something the U.S. is treating as a legitimate representation of the Iranian government or its position on a starting point to talks. He also chided organizations and legacy media outlets that have been spreading that info as if it's serious:
.@VP: I've seen various organizations like @nytimes, @CNN, and others pick up and run the original 10-point proposal based on little more than a random yahoo in Iran submitting it to public access television in the country of Iran, and then them saying that somehow represents the… pic.twitter.com/qTGFhLpVmP
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 8, 2026
Vance wasn't the only one who called out the media, including CNN:
CNN admitted to the world that it ran Iranian regime propaganda without even bothering to fact-check.
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority (@HouseForeignGOP) April 8, 2026
The lying legacy media has done so much damage to the world—but this is a new low. https://t.co/eYeeHY0dZv
Vance added that they are seeing the Strait "starting to reopen" some already today, something that is part of any ceasefire deal:
.@VP: "We are seeing signs that the Straits are starting to reopen... The deal is a ceasefire, a negotiation — that's what we give — and what they give is the Straits are going to be reopened. If we don't see that happening, @POTUS is not going to abide by our terms if the… pic.twitter.com/sQIhvj495y
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 8, 2026
He repeated the president's top non-negotiable demand: no nukes, period, and no enrichment capabilities. They simply have not shown they can be trusted:
.@VP: "We don't want Iran to have the capacity to build a nuclear weapon. @POTUS has also said that we don't want Iran enriching towards a nuclear weapon, and we want Iran to give up the nuclear fuel. Those are going to be our demands during the negotiation." pic.twitter.com/UUcSxJyyCh
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 8, 2026
Vance's remarks come just hours after Iran claimed it had closed the Strait of Hormuz for traffic in the wake of U.S. ally Israel's strike on Lebanon - something Press Secretary Leavitt swiftly disposed of. They also claimed the U.S. had agreed to parts of their so-called 10-point proposal. As we wrote:
...[T]hey're already off to the races, falsely characterizing what was agreed to. First, there was no agreement on any of their 10-point demands, as they claim.
And as Bonchie wrote first thing Wednesday, Iran already appears to have violated the terms of President Trump's ceasefire by reportedly firing on Israel and several Gulf states.
READ MORE: Karoline Leavitt Dunks on Latest Reported Iranian Claims About the Strait
🚨 NOW: VP JD Vance is boarding Air Force Two in Hungary en route back to the United States
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 8, 2026
Vance is scheduled to fly BACK overseas in just days to lead the US delegation for peace talks with IRAN in Pakistan
JD's the man for the job.
Have a safe flight, Mr. Vice President. pic.twitter.com/bwt9uNvKzM
Fox News' Chief Foreign Correspondent, Trey Yingst just reported that Vance will be leading the U.S. delegation, joined by White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, for "in-person talks" in Pakistan on Saturday:
In-person talks are planned for Saturday in Pakistan. Vice President Vance will lead the U.S. delegation, joined by Witkoff and Kushner.
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) April 8, 2026
As this is a developing story, RedState will provide updates as more information becomes available.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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