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Pool Me Twice, Shame On You

Explore episode Jun 23, 2026

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Iran Peace Talks: Progress, Skepticism, and JD Vance's Errors

At 8:26 · chapter starts 3:05

Jon Favreau opens with a recap of a chaotic week in the Iran negotiations: the ceasefire briefly collapsed, Iran announced it closed the Strait of Hormuz, and Trump threatened to take over the strait entirely. JD Vance cited three points of progress — keeping the strait open, a Hezbollah deconfliction mechanism, and Iran agreeing to nuclear inspectors — but the Iranians haven't confirmed any of it. Meanwhile, the US handed over a 60-day oil sanctions waiver potentially worth $10 billion, the first such waiver in roughly four decades. Tommy Vietor is particularly skeptical: Iran has more time and expertise in negotiations, Trump has given up his leverage, and the threat of military action is gone. Jon Lovett puts the situation bluntly — Iran looks like it forced concessions without firing a shot. The segment ends with a sharp fact-check of JD Vance's Ross Douthat interview, where Vance falsely claimed the current deal is better than the JCPOA on uranium. Tommy corrects the record: under the JCPOA, Iran shipped 97% of its uranium to Russia; the current deal would merely down-blend it and keep it inside Iran.

News
Iran Sanctions Relief Before Any Verified Concessions

Pool Me Twice, Shame On You · Jun 23, 2026 News

The US agreed to a 60-day oil sanctions waiver — the first in 40 years — potentially worth $10 billion to Iran, before Iran confirmed a single nuclear weapons inspector entry. Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor note that under the JCPOA, no sanctions relief came until Iran acted first.

News
JD Vance Got the Iran Deal Exactly Backwards

Pool Me Twice, Shame On You · Jun 23, 2026 News

JD Vance told Ross Douthat that unlike Obama's deal, the new arrangement removes Iran's enriched uranium. That's flatly false. Under the JCPOA, Iran shipped 97% of its stockpile to Russia. The current deal would merely down-blend it and keep it inside Iran.

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