The deal everyone was waiting for might appear to be sealed, but the violent threats sure haven’t stopped between the US and Iran.
Hours after a loose agreement was met, US President Donald Trump warned that military action against Iran would immediately resume if Tehran fails to comply with the complicated deal’s terms.
Meanwhile, Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, has called his peace deal with Iran “the wrong decision”.
Mr Pence served Mr Trump loyally throughout his first presidency, but became something of a MAGA pariah right at the end when he rebuffed pressure to help the then-president remain in office after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
Mr Trump told his supporters (falsely) that Mr Pence had the power, in his role as president of the Senate, to unilaterally reject the election results from states Mr Biden had won.
When Mr Pence refused to do that, Mr Trump accused him of not having the “courage” to do what was needed. A mob of Mr Trump’s supporters then stormed Congress in an attempt to stop it from certifying the election result, with some of them chanting “hang Mike Pence”.
“The Trump-Pence administration criticised the Obama-era nuclear deal for unfreezing $50 billion in Iranian assets,” CNN host Kaitlan Collins put to Mr Pence today.
“I mean, if what happens here – and they get six times that amount, plus potentially $100 billion, another $100 billion in funds that are being unfrozen – do you think that’s a defensible position?”
“Well whether it’s a defensible position or not, it is the wrong position,” said Mr Pence.
“To throw a lifeline to the Iranian regime, when they are weaker and more isolated than they have ever been in history, I think would be a historic error.
“We have an opportunity right now to continue to pressure, through the blockade or additional use of force, to really end five decades of threats to the America people, to our cherished ally Israel.
“The pledge to renounce the pursuit of nuclear weapons – Iran has made that promise again and again and again, and it’s always built on lies.
“The only thing that would be acceptable here is the verifiable dismantling of their nuclear program, their ballistic program, renouncing terrorist support.
“There’s an old adage that says, ‘Trust but verify.’ But if I was sitting next to the President, I would say, ‘Verify and then trust.’ We should demand that Iran come to the table and verifiably abandon the course they’ve been on for five decades.”
Read on for more updates.