{"id":4647,"date":"2026-06-25T12:21:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T12:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/06\/25\/jd-vance-is-the-face-of-the-beleaguered-iran-deal-is-he-its-fall-guy\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T12:21:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T12:21:30","slug":"jd-vance-is-the-face-of-the-beleaguered-iran-deal-is-he-its-fall-guy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=4647","title":{"rendered":"JD Vance is the face of the beleaguered Iran deal \u2013 is he its fall guy?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-14sl0e4\">\n<div class=\"dcr-17l77cs\">\n<figure id=\"42e83351-3700-4695-b6e1-acb19280a2df\" class=\"dcr-191xnya\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t7hdmw\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A somber-faced JD Vance.\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/d2788974b7c5a6d6a4dc87959a74f15e2a076caf\/0_0_5500_3667\/master\/5500.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"310.0281818181818\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-up96pv\"><span class=\"dcr-kogzpx\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-18mnkpm\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1294qmb\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-4sl2vt\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1mfxiaj\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">JD Vance after the US and Iran held high-level talks at in Emmen, Switzerland, on 22 June 2026.<\/span> Photograph: Nathan Howard\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-zwabc0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"42e83351-3700-4695-b6e1-acb19280a2df\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-1bitgpn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-1shbixy\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-qda0hp\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1e9iiy9\"><span class=\"dcr-13i4yc9\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1cipnsy\">JD Vance after the US and Iran held high-level talks at in Emmen, Switzerland, on 22 June 2026.<\/span> Photograph: Nathan Howard\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-ql9l8l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6mja0y\">\n<div class=\"dcr-19hyiet\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1iguxsh\"><a href=\"\/tone\/analysis\" class=\"dcr-e5rynu\">Analysis<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"dcr-l0wuod\">JD Vance is the face of the beleaguered Iran deal \u2013 is he its fall guy?<\/h1>\n<div class=\"dcr-1ofjv3s\">\n<div class=\"dcr-ogy8bq\"><a rel=\"author\" data-link-name=\"auto tag link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/profile\/roth-andrew\">Andrew Roth<\/a><span>in Washington<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1xpojbf\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1vosmfz\">\n<p>Vice-president, leading a foundering peace deal to end the kind of war he\u2019s opposed in the past, is left holding the bag<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-x1al2c\">\n<div class=\"dcr-11gq2tx\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-1w2vkyc\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-ogvvui\">\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/jd-vance\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">JD Vance<\/a> has taken the greatest gamble of his vice-presidency by making himself the face of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/iran\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Iran<\/a> ceasefire deal \u2013 a shaky agreement that already seems to be unraveling at the seams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">But after months spent in limbo due to the war, it may be the best chance for him to find his feet again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A funk had set over the US vice-president\u2019s camp since the administration launched its war in Iran in February. Vance, a vocal opponent of the \u201cforever wars\u201d of the previous administrations (he had served as a combat correspondent in Iraq), was now being forced to defend the largest US military intervention in the Middle East in a generation. In public, he had been left out of the war room at Mar-a-Lago and appeared to be distanced from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/us-israel-war-on-iran\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Iran war<\/a> planning. In private, journalists were being briefed on his opposition to the war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cWe could see that he was deeply uncomfortable\u201d with the war, said one of Vance\u2019s former colleagues in the Senate. \u201cThis is not what he joined the administration to do \u2026 But he chose to play [along] with Trump himself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cHe knew this could happen,\u201d the senator added.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"d5753c89-5ef2-4263-a335-defd6eea9527\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-1oq85qr\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-5 | 5\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1rx5ky9\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-15vltj4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/ng-interactive\/2026\/jun\/19\/jd-vance-catholicism\" class=\"dcr-f35c0u\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-vvxpdt\">\n<div class=\"dcr-6z6e7\">\n<div class=\"dcr-zh9rih\">JD Vance, once an \u2018angry atheist\u2019, is America\u2019s most powerful Catholic. How will he wield his faith?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-oj13vq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-ef9nua\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">It had even, some insiders have said, imperiled Vance\u2019s likely run for the presidency in 2028, where he remains the presumptive Republican favorite but has lost ground to Marco Rubio, a foreign policy hawk who has proved a competent top diplomat and security official.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cFor many voters, Vance now represents a deeply and increasingly unpopular administration that presides over a spluttering economy, geopolitical decline, and a catastrophic war with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/iran\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Iran<\/a>,\u201d wrote Andrew Day of the American Conservative, which is highly critical of neoconservativsm and US interventionism abroad. \u201cWhat had seemed predetermined \u2013 Vance 2028 \u2013 can no longer be taken for granted \u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cVance, to come out on top, will first need to define himself,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">No one doubted that Vance was taking a risk when he took on the mantle of negotiating with Iran through Pakistani mediators. He was leading the highest-level engagement between US and Iranian officials since the Iranian revolution and diplomatic crisis of 1979.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">As the terms of the deal became public, Vance was saddled with offering Iran terms including sanctions relief, the release of frozen assets, and other incentives that made him a target for hawkish and pro-Israel members of his own party. In public, he had gushed about the highest-level contacts with Iranian officials in generations, leading critics to call him far too credulous of Iranian promises.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Worse, he was being regularly undercut by the White House, with Trump threatening to resume strikes on Iran and even to assassinate Iranian negotiators with talks ongoing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">As usual, Vance sought to smooth over Trump\u2019s rougher edges: \u201cWhat we told the Iranians yesterday is that when you guys engage in what us millennials might call trash talk, you can\u2019t expect the president of the United States not to respond and not to correct the record,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Yet as he seeks to advance the unlikely Iran deal, Vance has taken the initiative for the first time since early in this administration, attempting to both end a war and rehabilitate his image as an anti-interventionist candidate before the next election cycle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">For nearly a week, Vance was being trotted out on to television to sell the Iran deal and other contentious Trump policies to the American public. He was grilled on The View, where Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar both took potshots at the sitting vice-president. (\u201cAre you his interpreter, or his vice-president? Come on,\u201d Behar at one point exclaimed at Vance.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Speaking with Ross Douthat of the New York Times, Vance gave an unusually critical appraisal of Israeli foreign policy in the region. \u201cWhat is your exact proposal?\u201d Vance said when asked about criticism by hardline Israeli politicians of his negotiations with Iran. \u201cYou\u2019re a country of 9 million people. You can\u2019t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The stakes for Vance could not be higher. Once again, the White House has made clear that it is extremely lax in terms of policy, but has little tolerance for failure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cIf it works out, I\u2019m going to take the credit,\u201d Trump said of the peace agreement. \u201cIf it doesn\u2019t work out, I\u2019m blaming JD.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">It was an almost exact reprisal of a joke he had made at the expense of Rubio more than a year earlier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Then it was Rubio who looked like the outlier in the new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/trump-administration\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Trump administration<\/a>. But now Vance is in the hot seat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-swayiu\"><span class=\"dcr-1xhbmzr\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-2c03t5\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-p7nd18\">\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/jd-vance\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">JD Vance<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/world\/us-israel-war-on-iran\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">US-Israel war on Iran<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/trump-administration\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Trump administration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/world\/iran\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Iran<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/world\/middleeast\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">Middle East and north Africa<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-r721ee\"><a href=\"\/tone\/analysis\" class=\"dcr-856iwi\">analysis<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-313bdz\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=JD%20Vance%20is%20the%20face%20of%20the%20beleaguered%20Iran%20deal%20%E2%80%93%20is%20he%20its%20fall%20guy?&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jun\/25\/jd-vance-iran-peace-deal?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-ncybeu\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-19bkree\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fjun%2F25%2Fjd-vance-iran-peace-deal&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/jun\/25\/jd-vance-iran-peace-deal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-1c41onw\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-axwinp\"><span class=\"dcr-1ryr20k\"><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JD Vance after the US and Iran held high-level talks at in Emmen, Switzerland, on 22 June 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}