"Refill the World's Oil Economy": Vance Signals MOU May Just Be a Strategic Pause | WATCH

The remarks come amid reports that Iran's leadership remains internally divided over how to handle the Strait of Hormuz. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has continued to push for direct control over the waterway, at times deploying military force to assert it even after the ceasefire took hold, while elements of Iran's civilian leadership appear more focused on securing access to the country's frozen assets and reviving its battered economy.

Vance's comments add to a monthlong pattern in which the vice president, the administration's most visible defender of the MOU, has repeatedly framed the deal in transactional terms tied to verification and leverage rather than as an unconditional peace. He has previously argued that lifting sanctions primarily serves to let the US track where Iranian money moves, and has said that if Iran changes its behavior, significant benefits will follow, but that if it does not, the US loses nothing by having tried. His latest remarks go further, suggesting the current diplomatic track may ultimately be secondary to a broader strategic calculation about oil supply and timing rather than a fixed commitment to ending the conflict through negotiation alone.