Vice President JD Vance spoke optimistically of peace talks between the United States and Iran on Monday, even as President Donald Trump has threatened to resume strikes if Iran doesn’t rein in regional allies, and congressional stakeholders have questioned whether America is getting a fair deal. On Monday morning, Vance departed from Switzerland after talks with Iran in which Qatar and Pakistan served as intermediaries. “The final deal is the house,” Vance said Monday morning. “We set the foundation. We haven’t built the house, but we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people.” Vance suggested Iran had indicated its willingness to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors into the country to inspect its nuclear programs, although Iran has not said as much publicly. He added “technical teams” would take over the negotiations that the memorandum of understanding has made possible. BREAKING: VP Vance announces major progress made by the United States and its negotiating team while finalizing a deal with Iran:“Yesterday was a very, very good day. We made a lot of good progress. We did exactly what we wanted to do… the Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA… pic.twitter.com/ExpYCS2KK2— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 22, 2026 The vice president also addressed the easing of sanctions, saying negotiators were considering unfreezing Iranian money so it could “go to buy American soy, American corn, and American wheat for the benefit of the Iranian people.”  Curt Mills, executive editor of the American Conservative, who has been critical of the administration’s military invention, said that the attempts to include pro-business provisions in the deal set these talks apart from those of the past. “There’s going to obviously be every effort to make this different and, frankly, sexier than the … Obama deal,” Mills told the Daily Signal, referring to President Barack Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which attempted to curtail Iran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon.   Trump was first elected president in 2016 as a harsh public critic of the deal, which, as a candidate, he called “the worst deal ever negotiated.”  Mills said talk of easing sanctions and a $300 billion fund for reconstruction in Iran is likely related to the fact American negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are investors in the region and because “the Iranians need to rebuild their country.” Talk of freeing up money for the reconstruction in Iran has been controversial on Capitol Hill, including among Republicans.  Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, recently told reporters, “I don’t want to see us send a penny to the ayatollah.” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has similarly expressed concerns that Iran would “use the money that is being released to rebuild their ballistic missile arsenal and begin to enrich [uranium] again.” Texas Senator @tedcruz is not in total alignment with President Trump and Vice President JD Vance's agreement with Iran. He said, "unfortunately, the president is receiving some, really bad advice on this deal." @cbs11jack Eye on Politics: https://t.co/BQCaZUWX2u pic.twitter.com/BAA4vcalQ7— CBS News Texas (@CBSNewsTexas) June 21, 2026 The developing deal has had no cheerleaders among congressional Democrats. “Everyone that bought Trump’s book, ‘The Art of the Deal,’ ought to ask him for a refund,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the floor on Thursday amid reports of potential reconstruction aid for Iran. The U.S. Constitution says the president’s treaty power requires “the Advice and Consent of the Senate … provided two thirds of the Senators present concur.” However, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed by Obama without congressional approval, side-stepping the Constitution’s treaty clause. Congress then passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act in 2015, requiring the president to allow Congress to review future Iran nuclear deals. The vice president’s conciliatory tone is a far cry from Trump’s public angling and occasional threats of military strikes. On Sunday, the president urged Iran to rein-in proxies in Lebanon, threatening to “hit Iran very hard again” if they disobeyed. Israeli and Hezbollah forces have continued to exchange strikes during the current ceasefire. Israel and Lebanon are not signatories of the memorandum of understanding that laid the groundwork for the current negotiations. The same day, Trump said that if Iran shut off the Strait of Hormuz, then they “won’t have a country.” Vance told reporters that Iranian negotiators in Switzerland “did threaten to walk out” after the president’s remarks, which he defended as a response to Iranian “trash talk.” “What we told the Iranians yesterday is, when you guys engage in what us millennials might call ‘trash talk,’ you can’t expect the president of the United States not to respond and not to correct the record,” Vance said. “So, yes, there was a little bit of threatening, there was a little bit of whining,” he added. “But at the end of the day, the talks continued and we made great progress.” Related PostsUS and Iran Beginning Discussions on a Final Deal—Here’s What We KnowPresident Donald Trump announced that the United States and Iran are beginning discussions on a final deal. Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran on Thursday, opening a round of negotiations to reach a final peace agreement in 60 days. The memorandum of understanding, first reached over the weekend with Iran, involves the U.S….JD Vance Survives the Women of ‘The View’Fresh off negotiating a peace deal with the mullahs and extremists of Iran, Vice President JD Vance waded into the much more turbulent waters of ABC’s “The View” Tuesday. After receiving warm, respectful applause from most of the audience, Vance endured a hostile interrogation not from the usual four rotating co-hosts of the show, but…Trump’s Iran GambleEditor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words” from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to Victor Davis Hanson’s own YouTube channel to watch past episodes. Sami Winc: Victor, let’s go ahead and get to the memorandum of understanding. It was a very short two-page document, easy to read through,…