Skeptical Republicans demand details of US-Iran outline peace deal

JD Vance speaks with the media as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews in May. Photograph: Matt Rourke/Reuters View image in fullscreen JD Vance speaks with the media as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews in May. Photograph: Matt Rourke/Reuters Skeptical Republicans demand details of US-Iran outline peace deal JD Vance says specifics ⁠to be ‌worked out as Senate Republicans say there are many unanswered questions Republicans have expressed tentative skepticism of the agreement Donald Trump has reached with Iran, and urged the White House to release more information. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) announced on Sunday to end the war in Iran, set for a ceremonial signing on Friday in Geneva, is centered around reopening the strait of Hormuz and lifting the United States’s naval blockade in the region, along with financial incentives for Iran if it meets certain benchmarks. Both Trump and JD Vance, the US vice-president, have digitally signed the document, along with Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf on Tehran’s behalf, a senior US official confirmed. In an interview with CNN on Monday, Vance called it “a very general document” with specifics ⁠of the ​deal ‌to be ‌worked out during further ‌negotiations. Netanyahu declares victory over Iran – and rules out withdrawal from Lebanon Read more “The MOU … is about a page,” Vance ​said. “On a number of ​issues, ​we are ​going to ​have ‌to figure ​this ​stuff out during the technical negotiation phase.” He also clarified in an interview with NBC News that the MOU is “about a page and a half” long – slightly longer than he had initially described – and confirmed that international nuclear inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be allowed back into Iran under its terms. “One of the core parts of the agreement is that the IAEA and the United States are going to help Iran destroy the highly enriched stockpile, and that’s something that’s spelled out very clearly,” Vance said. His comments came as many Senate Republicans who returned to Washington on Monday said there were still many unanswered questions about the deal and they need thorough briefings before it was finalized. “I just don’t know enough about it,” Republican John Thune told reporters in the Capitol. “Even the people who follow this stuff closely up here don’t know that much about it.” Congressional leaders and intelligence committees generally receive higher-level intelligence briefings before rank-and-file members, and they are notified of major developments before they are announced. But Thune, who is the Senate majority leader, said he had not been personally briefed on the deal. “I think that my understanding of what it entails – and, again, not having seen anything … I think the issues are going to be compliance, and how are you going to enforce that,” Thune said. Thune’s concerns were echoed by several other Republican senators. “If it’s a secret deal then how can I take it seriously?” asked