US President Donald Trump's proposed peace deal with Iran is encountering significant bipartisan backlash, with both Republican and Democrat senators voicing profound concerns that the agreement could inadvertently empower Tehran and compromise American interests.
Key Points
- US President Donald Trump's proposed peace deal with Iran is facing strong bipartisan opposition from both Republican and Democrat senators.
- Critics, including prominent Republicans like Senators Roger Wicker and Ted Cruz, fear the deal could recognise Iran as a 'dominant force' and allow it to retain control over the Strait of Hormuz and uranium enrichment.
- Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticised the deal, likening it to the Obama administration's approach and advocating for stronger measures against Iran.
- Some, like Senator Rand Paul and House Speaker Mike Johnson, urged patience and supported Trump's efforts to find an 'America First' solution, cautioning against premature judgment.
United States President Donald Trump's peace deal with Iran has run afoul of fellow Republicans who have voiced deep concerns over the move, contending that it would amount to recognising Tehran as a "dominant force" that required a "diplomatic solution".
The Republican sceptics included Senator Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senators Thom Tillis, Lindsey Graham, and Ted Cruz, who all questioned trusting Iran to stick to its commitments to the peace deal to end the nearly three-month war.
Surprisingly, Trump critic Senator Rand Paul counselled patience and urged critics to give the President space to find an America First solution.
Democrat senators also joined the critics of the peace deal, claiming that the president was "being played as a fool" and the emerging framework would merely amount to returning to the "pre-war status quo".
Trump Defends Proposed Agreement
Trump hit back at the critics, describing them as losers who were commenting on an issue they knew nothing about. He claimed that the deal under discussion was the exact opposite of the one agreed to under the leadership of then-President Barack Obama in 2015.
"If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon," Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday.
"Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn't even fully negotiated yet. So don't listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about," Trump said.
Concerns Over Iran's Capabilities and Influence
Senator Ted Cruz said he was "deeply concerned" about the prospective deal. He said any outcome in which Iran retained control of the Strait of Hormuz and the ability to enrich uranium will be "a disastrous mistake."
"If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime still run by Islamists who chant 'death to America' now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake," Cruz wrote Saturday on the social media platform X.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served during the first Trump administration, too said the deal under discussion was much on the lines of the one negotiated during the Obama administration. "The deal being floated with Iran seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook: Pay the IRGC to build a WMD program and terrorize the world," Pompeo wrote on X.
"Not remotely America First. It's straightforward: Open the damned strait. Deny Iran access to money. Take out enough Iranian capability so it cannot threaten our allies in the region. Overdue. Let's go," Pompeo said.
Trump's close adviser Steven Cheung hit out at Pompeo for his criticism of the peace deal, saying that Pompeo had no idea what he was talking about.
"He should shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals. He's not read into anything that's happening, so how would he know," Cheung, the White House Communications Director, said in a post on X.
Senator Lindsey Graham, who is close to Trump, said that any deal that is perceived to allow Iran to survive and possess the ability to control the Strait in the future will put Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Shia militias in Iraq on steroids. Senator Wicker questioned the merit of a proposed 60-day ceasefire, saying it would be a disaster.
"Everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for nought," said Wicker.
Calls for Patience and 'America First' Solutions
Senator Rand Paul defended the White House's approach. "War virtually always ends with negotiations. Critics of President Trump's peace negotiations should give President Trump the space to find an American First solution," Paul said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson also voiced support for a deal and cautioned against making a quick judgment before its official terms were released. Congressman Johnson said Sunday on Fox & Friends Weekend that he was "confident" that the deal would "take care of the nuclear dust" and praised the president for his "resolute" will to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.
