Vice President JD Vance appeared on an episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast that came out on Wednesday and was asked why President Trump keeps claiming that a deal has been reached with Iran but then goes back to bombing the country.
The interview, recorded on Tuesday, comes as the US has intensified its airstrikes against Iran and Iranian forces have been launching heavy retaliation against US bases and continue targeting ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, as both sides have said the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was effectively over.
Vance insisted that the US was “on the right trajectory, it’s just going to be really messy, and there’s going to be a lot of starts and stops.” He claimed that the deal had been imperiled by a split among Iranian officials and that recent attacks on ships were due to hardliners who opposed the MoU, a narrative that Iranian officials have rejected and have called a disinformation campaign.
Joe Rogan asks JD Vance why President Trump keeps saying a deal has been made with Iran and then starts bombing them again.
— The American Conservative (@amconmag) July 15, 2026
Vance: “We are on the right trajectory, it’s just going to be really messy. There’s going to be a lot of starts and stops.” pic.twitter.com/FimEZHfGJK
He said that the hardliners “freaked out” over the amount of oil that exited the Strait of Hormuz and worried that Iran was giving up its “leverage,” though Iran’s most senior diplomatic officials have maintained a unified front on their stance that they view any transits through the strait that aren’t authorized by Tehran as a violation of the deal.
“So they shot at a couple of ships we responded, and I think that’s entirely appropriate, of course, if they’re going to shoot at ships, we are going to shoot at the people who are shooting at the ships, or we’re going to destroy the facilities that they’re using to shoot at ships,” Vance said.
“So that happens, okay, and then the Iranians are like, “Oh no, no, fine, you’re right, we shouldn’t have been shooting at ships.” So then they come back to the table, and there’s a few more days of negotiation, and then the phase they’re in right now is that the hardliners have really, really reacted strongly to all the oil that’s coming out of the Strait of Hormuz, and they’ve basically said we’re going to try to shut this thing down,” he added.
The US vice president went on to describe the current US policy, which appears to be an attempt to bomb Iran into submission, as a “diplomatic dance.”
“Again, do I know how this is ultimately going to shake out? Of course I don’t. But what we’re doing is a delicate diplomatic dance where we’re using economic leverage points. We’re using carrots and sticks. We’re trying to talk to the pragmatists. And then, of course, when they commit acts of violence, we’re responding to it. And all those things are happening simultaneously to get us on a better trajectory,” he said.
“Now that said, yes, right now there’s shooting right now. Last night they shot at some ships. But with all that said, is their nuclear program still destroyed? Yes. Are the straits not necessarily fully pre-war traffic, but are we getting enough oil and gas out of the Strait of Hormuz to prevent a worldwide energy crisis? Yes. And all of these things are happening in the context of the broader negotiation,” he added.
In this interview, Vance also criticized hawks who he said wanted the US to bomb Iran “into oblivion” and didn’t have a real solution, though that appears to be President Trump’s current strategy as he is threatening to escalate airstrikes into bombing power plants and bridges.
