Image: watson/getty
analysis
The US deputy has no chance in the peace negotiations with Iran – and he won’t use it.
June 23, 2026, 7:55 p.mJune 23, 2026, 7:55 p.m
In the various episodes of “Mission Impossible” Tom Cruise has to complete a series of tasks that cannot be completed according to human discretion and the laws of physics. Of course, Cruise ultimately triumphs. JD Vance can’t expect that. The US vice president was sent by Donald Trump on a mission impossible that contradicts all laws of politics.
Vance must negotiate a peace treaty with Iran after a war that ended in embarrassment for the United States.
A picture from happy days: Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.Image: Keystone
Incited by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump ordered the attack on Tehran. After part of the Iranian leadership had been wiped out in the first few hours, the US President believed himself to be in the same situation as after the successful operation against Venezuela, in which the dictator Nicolas Maduro was captured without a single drop of American blood being shed.
In his elation, Trump demanded nothing less than the unconditional surrender of Iran, the renunciation of uranium enrichment, the release of around 400 kilograms of uranium, which is already enriched to 60 percent and is therefore almost weapons-grade, the renunciation of missiles and, because everything is going so wonderfully, also a regime change.
Military experts have repeatedly warned Trump in advance that the situation in Iran cannot be compared to Venezuela. Vain. The president once again listened to Netanyahu and his gut – and failed across the board.
The Iranians did exactly what everyone knew they would do: They closed the Strait of Hormuz, preventing around 20 percent of global oil and natural gas demand from leaving the Persian Gulf, with the result that the entire global economy threatened to slide into recession.
Donald Trump visits the Palace of Versailles.Image: keystone
That had an effect, and how. The US President personally signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Palace of Versailles, a preliminary agreement that was tough: the weapons should remain silent for 60 days. During this time, a definitive peace treaty must be negotiated. It is already clear that this agreement will be in Tehran’s favor.
The Iranians will receive around $300 billion to rebuild their destroyed country. It is unclear who exactly is donating this money. At the same time, another $100 billion in frozen Iranian assets will be released. The sanctions against the Iranians are being lifted and they are now allowed to sell their oil for US dollars again. In return, they open the Strait of Hormuz, but only for 60 days. They are also allowed to keep some of their missiles and enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
And as far as regime change is concerned, although it is generally believed that the new rulers are even more radical than the old Ayatollahs, there is no longer any talk of it. On the contrary: Trump praises them as pragmatic and sensible negotiating partners.
The MOU signed by Trump was not well received. In Israel, Netanyahu now has to fear for his re-election. Yinon Magal, a popular TV presenter and close friend of the Prime Minister, therefore insulted Vance as “scum” and the two American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as “traitors to the Jews”. He asked the US President: “Why do you blame Netanyahu? He always wanted a total victory. It’s not his fault that Trump turns around halfway through.”
Broke with the Republicans: Tucker Carlson.Image: keystone
Far worse for Trump, however, is the turmoil in his own country, more precisely in his own party. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy calls the MOU “the worst foreign policy misstep in decades.” Former Vice President Mike Pence has spoken out against it. Even Ted Cruz, the hardliner from Texas, explains: “I hope, yes, I pray, that we don’t make $300 billion available to the Iranians.”
Even within MAGA, all hell is breaking loose. Tucker Carlson, who, together with the murdered Charlie Kirk, repeatedly tried to convince Trump not to start a war against Iran, is now so frustrated that he no longer wants to have anything to do with the Republicans.
All of this puts Vance in dire straits. It is located between the hammer and the anvil. Carlson and the murdered Kirk convinced Trump to appoint him as running mate. Before the election, he himself praised the president effusively in an op-ed before the election for not starting any wars. The New York Times also revealed that he was the only one who argued against the war.
Now he must not only defend this war, but also sell the MOU as a great victory. All he can do is make a fool of himself. He described the first round of talks on the Bürgenstock as a “successful basis”. Specifically, however, he could only show that the Iranians had agreed to allow inspections of their nuclear facilities again. But they already did that under the agreement that President Barack Obama negotiated at the time, just as they promised then that they would never produce nuclear weapons.
JD Vance on the Bürgenstock.Image: keystone
Trump sent his deputy on Mission Impossible with the words: “If he succeeds, then I’ll adorn myself with it. If he fails, I’ll blame JD.” That may have been meant as a joke. But the deputy also knows that Trump will not hesitate for a second to turn this joke into reality.
At least JD Vance remains a consolation, albeit a weak one: he was spared a second Mission Impossible. He doesn’t have to ensure that the reflecting pool in front of the White House is cleared of algae. However, what is not can still become. The deputy is now back in Washington.