US President Donald Trump’s deal with Iran has opened a rare breach with Republican hawks, who warn that the agreement falls far short of the sweeping victory he promised and could leave Tehran richer, stronger and still able to threaten the region, AFP reports.
The terms have alarmed some of the same Republicans who spent years denouncing Democratic former president Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran as dangerously weak.
They have voiced concerns that Trump is offering Iran sanctions relief, access to oil markets and the prospect of a $300 billion reconstruction fund while failing to secure firm commitments on uranium enrichment, ballistic missiles or Tehran’s support for armed proxies.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy writes on X that former president and Republican icon Ronald Reagan would be “rolling over in his grave”, calling the agreement “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades”.
“Before the war, the strait was open, Iran was being crushed by sanctions, and 13 service members were still alive,” he said. “Now, 13 Americans are dead, families have paid billions at the pump, sanctions will be lifted, and the bombing has stopped,” he says.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz warns Trump not to “suddenly come in with massive buckets of cash to let them rebuild and become a threat to America again”.
“I don’t want to see theocratic Islamists who want to kill us made stronger. So if this deal is giving them $300 billion, that’s a mistake,” he states.
