Long list of U.S. concessions to Iran raises specter of a ‘lost war’

WASHINGTON— The White House on Thursday pushed back against growing bipartisan criticism of a negotiated deal to war with Iran, arguing that concessions to the Islamic Republic were contingent on its behavior and necessary to secure peace.

The administration’s defensive stance came as details of the framework agreement, known as a memorandum of understanding, emerged. finally shared with the publicIt reveals that a series of compromises have been reached with Tehran, which Republicans have long opposed.

Vice President J.D. Vance, who helped negotiate the deal, told reporters Thursday that the deal was structured to reward Iran for good behavior. However, the text of the agreement says otherwise.

The Trump administration agreed to release billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen and restricted by the United States “upon implementation” of the memorandum; before any further steps are taken or additional negotiations begin. The president will waive sanctions on Iranian oil, allowing Tehran to resume trade in its most valuable export and break with decades of policy. And to facilitate this trade, to increase Tehran’s revenues, Trump agrees to immediately end US naval blockade from Iranian ports.

The Iranians have been offered further concessions that would essentially provide compensation for the war Trump started, including the US administration’s commitment to create a fund of “at least $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic.”

“All necessary licenses, waivers and authorizations for the relevant financial transactions will be granted by the United States,” the memorandum states.

Taken together, the document represents a striking reversal of US policy towards Iran after decades of concerns among administrations in Washington (including Trump’s two terms) that the Islamic Republic represented the country’s greatest security threats as the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.

Criticism, especially from Republican senators, was harsh and swift.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the $300 billion fund would “pay off Iran under President Obama’s 2015 deal.” It seems like a very small fee. by comparison.” And Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) accused the Trump administration of paying Iran to kill Americans.

“History shows that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to kill us is an extremely bad idea, and unfortunately I think the President was really ill-advised on this deal,” Cruz said. “I don’t want to see us send even a penny to the Ayatollah. I hope not.”

The Obama-era agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, included structured sanctions relief against Iran in exchange for concrete and verifiable steps to dismantle most of Tehran’s nuclear program; This was a framework that Republicans widely criticized at the time.

By contrast, Trump’s deal commits the United States to providing economic assistance to Iran, while offering no clarity on the future of Iran’s nuclear program; This is the very issue that Trump cited as justification for starting the war.

The memorandum includes Iran’s commitment to never purchase or produce nuclear weapons; This is a promise the Islamic Republic has made many times before; That includes signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a religious edict issued by the late religious leader, and the Obama-era nuclear deal.

Detailed negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program – including whether Tehran can continue enriching domestic uranium at what level and under what monitoring regime – have been left for another day.

For more than a decade, the U.S. intelligence community has assessed Iran as seeking a threshold nuclear capability that secures the strategic advantages of a nuclear power without incurring the costs of explicitly pursuing a bomb.

The agreement includes Iran’s commitment to do its best to return commercial shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital international waterway, to pre-war levels. But the president’s critics said he had to make deep, historic concessions to secure the status quo upended by the war he launched. In the document, Tehran agreed to refrain from imposing tolls on ships passing through the strait for a period of only 60 days.

“Unless you’re homeschooled by someone who drinks every day, no one is sure Iran is going to do anything,” Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, told reporters this week.

Kennedy’s Republican counterpart in Louisiana, Senator Bill Cassidy, called the agreement “the worst foreign policy mistake in decades” that would make President Reagan “roll over in his grave.”

“Iran’s nuclear ambitions have not been restrained, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly strengthen it in the future. Iran will now build a brand new infrastructure under this agreement,” Cassidy said.

“Before the war, the strait was open, Iran was being crushed by sanctions, and 13 soldiers were still alive,” he added. “Now 13 Americans are dead, families have paid billions of dollars to the pump, sanctions will be lifted and the bombings will stop.”

Despite mounting criticism, Trump signed the memorandum Wednesday night while attending a dinner with the French president at Versailles, famous for hosting the signing of a treaty that embarrassed Germany at the end of World War I.

He defended the deal while in Europe, suggesting more concessions could come, including recognition of Iran’s claimed right to enrich uranium and a new willingness to tolerate its continued ballistic missile development — another program Trump has vowed to eliminate as a central war target.

“He led America into war to get rid of Iran’s missile program, killing 13 soldiers, thousands of Iranian civilians and costing taxpayers $60 billion. And now that he’s lost the war, he’s acting like it was no big deal,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut.

“It’s inexcusable,” he added. “What a charlatan.”