JD Vance used an unexpected analogy to describe the administration’s approach to the Iran ceasefire, comparing it to an agreement he says he has with his wife Usha about skydiving.
The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday (April 7), after more than five weeks of conflict.
President Donald Trump has said from the outset that his objective is to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” Trump, 79, wrote via his social media platform, Truth Social, this week.
According to Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi, Tehran will halt counter-attacks and pause its blockade of oil and gas shipments through the strait, enabling vessels to pass safely, as per Reuters.
While in Budapest, Hungary on Wednesday, Vance was questioned about the ceasefire and what it could mean for negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme. A reporter asked the vice president: ‘Do you see a scenario in which the administration may be willing to agree to allow Iran to continue enriching uranium for civilian nuclear purposes?’
Although nuclear technology can be used for civilian needs—such as generating electricity and producing drinkable water through desalination—it can also be applied to weapons development.
“What the president has said is that we don’t want Iran to have the capacity to build a nuclear weapon. The president 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.”
Vance also referred to remarks from Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, who cited a 10-point proposal aimed at ending the war that included what he described as ‘Iran’s right to enrichment’.
“I thought to myself, you know what? My wife has the right to skydive, but she doesn’t jump out of an airplane because she and I have an agreement that she’s not going to do that because I don’t want my wife jumping out of an airplane,” Vance said regarding Ghalibaf’s comment
“We don’t really concern ourselves with what they claim they have the right to do. We concern ourselves with what they actually do,” Vance continued.
Ghalibaf’s reference to enrichment rights came as part of a broader statement about the proposal—one he said Trump had described as a ‘workable basis on which to negotiate’.
“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalised and consummated,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.