US Vice President JD Vance has criticised Israel’s response to the recent agreement between the United States and Iran, describing it as a “weird panic” and a “freakout.”
In an interview with The New York Times released on Thursday, Vance said some Israeli officials appeared to assume that any concession benefiting Iran would come without any change in Tehran’s behaviour.
“There is this weird panic almost in the Israeli system that I’ve picked up on where they assume that everything that is contemplated that is good for Iran will happen — but that will happen without the Iranians changing any behaviour,” Vance said.
“That’s not how the deal is written.”
Vance added that the United States would not lift sanctions on Iran if it continued supporting organisations that Washington designates as terrorist groups, in an apparent reference to Hezbollah.
He also accused Israel of showing a lack of trust in its closest ally.
“I find this whole freakout in Israel a little bit odd because I think that it comes from a place of mistrust, and I think that America has earned the trust of that region of the world,” Vance said.