“If you think this is a bad deal, what is your alternative?” Critics of JD Vance think that his key role in the Iran negotiations may end up being an albatross around his neck. (“If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD,” President Trump said in France this week.)

But in our conversation, the vice president seemed buoyant and eager to play the salesman, insisting that the deal is better than the pact President Barack Obama sealed in 2015.

I asked him about his initial opposition to the war, his conflict with the pope and whether his political future is riding on the success of the Iran agreement. We also discussed Vance’s new book, “Communion,” about the vice president’s return to faith, and whether or not the Trump administration’s policies embody Christian values.

• 0:00 - Intro
• 01:06 - The implications of the US - Iran Peace deal
• 07:04 - Will Iran's internal politics transform?
• 17:30 - The US - Israel Relationship
• 22:19 - Vance's Protestant Christian upbringing
• 28:22 - From non-believer to rediscovering faith
• 35:18 - Christianity in Vance's life and in the Trump administration
• 47:07 - Tensions with Pope Francis
• 54:10 - The future of the Iran deal and a message to Republican critics

(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

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