Washington DC [US], June 18 (ANI): US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday (local time) said that the 60-day negotiating period between the United States and Iran officially began on June 18 (Thursday), a day after the two sides reached a deal framework.
Briefing members of the media at the White House, Vance said, “I would say the 60-day period officially started today. So, yes, the deal started yesterday. We’re going to start the 60-day clock today.”
Responding to questions about President Donald Trump’s statement on Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, Vance said the United States had significantly degraded Iran’s missile arsenal while maintaining that any final agreement would still permit legitimate self-defence capabilities.
“We destroyed a substantial number of their ballistic missiles and their ballistic missile launchers themselves. All the President said yesterday is that countries don’t give up the right of self-defence. Israel doesn’t give up the right of self-defence if Hezbollah fires rockets or drones at Israel. The Iranians don’t give up the right of self-defence in their country. But we do expect that as part of the final deal, they are not going to be able to build the kind of missiles that can broadly threaten the entire world,” Vance said.
“You can’t tell a country whether Israel or Iran, they’re not allowed to have any self-defence. That’s not what the President has asked. That’s not what the President has requested. But as part of the final deal, what we want to see is Iran not funding regional instability, funding regional terrorism. The nuclear weapons program is destroyed. It is gone,” he added.
Vance also linked the emerging agreement to developments in global energy markets and maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, saying Iran had been unable to export oil because of the conflict-related blockade and that easing restrictions was already producing results.
“Iranians have been completely unable to sell oil, not because of sanctions, but because of the blockade. Fundamentally, the thing that we have done here is that we said we’re going to lift the blockade, we’re going to allow you to sell some of your oil, and they’re going to open the Strait of Hormuz. We see that process starting to work already,” he said.
He said that 12.5 million barrels of oil transited through the Strait of Hormuz overnight, marking the highest volume since the start of the Iran conflict, and credited President Donald Trump’s peace deal for easing tensions, stabilising energy markets and restoring maritime traffic in the region.
Vance said the administration’s peace plan with Iran was already delivering tangible benefits for Americans, pointing to falling oil and gas prices and improved security in one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes.
“The president’s peace plan in Iran is already bearing real fruits for the American people. Last night, 12.5 million barrels of oil went through the Strait of Hormuz, which is a high since the beginning of the conflict,” Vance said.
He added that oil prices had nearly returned to pre-conflict levels, while gasoline prices had dropped below USD 4 per gallon for the first time since the conflict began. He said,” Oil prices are down nearly to their level from the pre-war conflict, gas prices dropped below USD 4 a gallon today for the first time since the conflict, and importantly, they’re going to keep falling further given how low oil prices are.” (ANI)
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