WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that Iran was “honoring” the terms of its preliminary peace deal with Washington — before declaring a 60-day window to hash out a final agreement had opened.

Vance touted swift economic relief as he tried to stem a revolt by congressional Republicans fearful that the vague terms of the 14-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) would strengthen rather than hamstring the anti-American theocracy.

“Last night, 12.5 million barrels of oil [went] into the Strait of Hormuz. That is a high since the beginning of the conflict,” Vance told reporters at the White House.

“Gas prices dropped below $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.”

Vance basked in the endorsement of anti-war Pope Leo XIV — exclaiming, “Praise Jesus!” — and the backing of Iran hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for the deal “now that he understands it better.”

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He also gave a stern warning to critical Israeli officials not to alienate their “only” ally by undermining the pact.

“On the military side, the Iranians, for the second night in a row, did not shoot at any ships in the Strait of Hormuz, so far they are honoring their end of the commitment,” the vice president said.

“On the blockade, CENTCOM allowed north of a dozen ships to go through our naval blockade, and so we’re also honoring our end of the early part of the agreement.”

Vance stepped behind the White House briefing room lectern to serve as the agreement’s top salesman after Trump put him in charge of talks with Iranian officials, aided by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Opponents of the deal — who view it as too soft on Iran — are attempting to pin blame for any negative outcomes on Vance, which could derail his anticipated 2028 presidential campaign.

Trump himself jokingly referenced that notion Wednesday, saying: “If it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD.”

Although some advocates of the war, such as Graham, support the MOU, opposition continued to grow Thursday in the Senate, which may need to ratify the final product.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) ripped the agreement as poised to “make Iran’s payoff under President Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance.”

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, meanwhile, released his first statement confirming that he gave President Masoud Pezeshkian permission to sign the MOU, but warning that his nation would not “submit” to “excessive demands.

Khamenei said that Trump “used all kinds of leverage to bring this about”  out of “desperation” — but that “in-person negotiations that will take place in the future will not mean acceptance of the enemy’s position.”

Vance admitted that the next steps remain cloudy and that his anticipated Friday trip to Switzerland for follow-up talks with Iranian officials may be delayed.

“Our plan is to go to Switzerland. I don’t know exactly when. The way that we’re setting up this technical negotiation is that obviously you’re going to have the political leadership involved,” he said.

The MOU commits the US to unfreeze more than $100 billion in Iranian funds, lift oil sanctions with estimated proceeds of $60 billion annually and bless a $300 billion Gulf Arab pool to rebuild the war-ravaged nation.

The VP claimed that the Iranians must take “meaningful steps,” such as the destruction of deeply buried highly enriched uranium, to allow for the unlocking of money.

Vance also argued that waiving US oil sanctions wasn’t a meaningful concession, as the vast majority of Iran’s exports are sold to China, bypassing US-influenced financial institutions.

He said that he was unsure of the precise amount of Iranian funds to be unfrozen, but said much of it was held abroad by US-allied countries that defer to Washington.

“I’ve heard numbers north of $100 billion. I’ve actually heard numbers north of $200 billion. Most of it is not in United States accounts; most of it’s either in the Gulf, or in Europe, or somewhere else,” Vance said.

“We’re not releasing a single dollar of that money until the Iranians perform,” he added.

“The United States isn’t giving up a cent of money to Iran, and even the economic benefits — the sanctions relief, and so forth — that comes along with this bargain only happens if the Iranians perform.”

Witkoff, a key negotiator, told members of Congress that Iran intends to invite the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog to begin the process of identifying areas where enriched uranium is located — with US officials intending to push for its dilution as part of a final agreement. 

To critics of the deal, Vance argued that the war accomplished its primary aims of blocking Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon and crippling its ability to support regional proxies.

“A couple of things that are still true and will be true, whether the Iranians comply with the rest of the deal or not: Their nuclear program has been completely destroyed,” Vance insisted.

“Their capacity for enrichment, the facilities at which they were using to develop enrichment and develop potential nuclear weapons, those facilities are still destroyed. Their conventional military is still destroyed. Their capacity to threaten their neighbors is still largely gone.

“And now we see whether they are willing to comply with the next step of the president’s peace plan.”

Vance said the initial deal is a demonstration that more moderate political leaders within Iran are gaining the upper hand — potentially heralding more change on the horizon after massive anti-regime protests that were violently suppressed in January.

“There are real divisions within their country about how exactly to proceed, and what we’ve seen over the last couple of months is that the pragmatists… are winning the argument,” Vance said.

“You really have a win-win situation for the United States of America. If the Iranians don’t change their behavior, their military and their nuclear program is still destroyed. If they do change their behavior, then they are going to have a transformative relationship with the Middle East.”