Vice President Vance answered a few questions before departing Switzerland after a few days of preliminary talks with the Iranians:

VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: The fundamental thing we got is, number one, we set up the mechanism to ensure not only the Straits of Hormuz are open, but will stay open. We saw, we think, about 15 million barrels of oil come out. It’s one of the reasons why oil is so low right now. Obviously, that means lower gas prices, and gas prices are going to keep coming down. Number two, we actually set up the right mechanism to ensure the regional ceasefire, to manage the inevitable conflicts that will come up. We feel great about that. We’re working with our allies, from the Israelis to the Gulf Arabs, to make sure that sticks. And we feel very, very good about where that is. We have the Iranians allowing weapons inspectors, nuclear inspectors, into their country for the first time in a long time. We’re obviously going to bolster those inspections, that inspection regime, to make sure they can never have a nuclear weapon. And finally, we continue to make progress on these technical negotiations. We left a lot of our team, the Iranians left a lot of their team, at the resort there to keep on working at it. So all in all, a very productive 36 hours. We’re going to have to keep working it. The last point that I’ll make is, as I told you all this morning, this is laying a foundation for what could be a truly transformed Middle East. We haven’t built a house yet. We’re going to have to keep on building, and that’s what we’ll do. REPORTER: Just in terms of the negotiations, you’ve said before that you’ve been cautious on these negotiations, that, like always, you believe that people are not always acting in good faith. Have things changed over the past 36 hours during your meeting with Iran and the other mediators? VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: No. All I mean is, look, whether good faith or bad faith, you can’t trust anybody’s words. You have to trust what they actually do. Letting the inspectors in is a big deal. But again, we’re going to see what they actually let the inspectors do once they’re in the country. That’s going to continually be a part of our negotiation. So my point is not that I trust or distrust anybody. My point is that I trust actions. And what the president has asked us to do is verify what they’re doing, focus less on what they’re saying. REPORTER: Sir, you mentioned using the Iranian frozen funds to buy American soy, for example. That’s something that was raised yesterday, that they’ve already agreed to? The Iranians have already agreed to that? VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: Yeah, that was something that came up yesterday. And we actually asked the Qataris to help us set up the mechanism so that we could ensure that the money goes where we want it to go. And they agreed to do that. We have a good relationship, obviously, with them and a good operational oversight mechanism in place. But even with that said, even with the caveat that it’s going to benefit American farmers and obviously benefit the people of Iran – we want both – but fundamentally, that money is not going to be unfrozen unless we continue to see progress. And that will obviously be a big part of the negotiation in the days to come. REPORTER: Sir, very quickly, there was a moment yesterday when Araghchi came into the room and did not greet you. You guys did not shake hands, and then he walked out of the room. Did you feel snubbed by that? Did you feel it was an intentional move on their part? How did you interpret what happened? VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE: No. I mean, trust me, I’ve spent a lot of time dealing with the Iranians over the last few months. Sometimes I find them extremely confusing as negotiators. But look, we had a little press conference. They obviously don’t quite have the same First Amendment protections in Iran that we have in the United States of America. We talked to you guys and then had a series of really good meetings. What I did find kind of funny is that after that initial meeting, there was this sort of social media firestorm where everybody said the Iranians are going to leave, and then we proceeded to talk to them for, like, the next nine hours. So I would just encourage the media: mistrust a little bit what you see coming out of Iranian social media. They can be confusing negotiators, but we feel like we’re making progress.

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