Hardline Republicans slam Trump’s emerging plan to end Iran war
The deal, which the Republican president said was “largely negotiated,” has caused a number of lawmakers, former Cabinet members and conservative analysts to wonder aloud whether the terms now known would turn the conflict into a complete “futility.”
Also Read: Iran says ceasefire agreement may be ‘cancelled’ due to US ‘blocking’ frozen assets
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the president’s decision to strike Iran was the “most important” decision of his second term and that he should not give up now.
“If the result of all this is an Iranian regime led by Islamists who still chant ‘Death to America,’ receives billions of dollars, is able to enrich uranium and develop nuclear weapons, and has effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake,” Cruz wrote on social media platform X on Saturday.
This was in reaction to Trump’s update after meeting with Israeli leaders and other US allies in the region.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who is also close to Trump, has opposed any deal that would leave Iran perceived as a dominant power in the region and maintain its ability to destroy oil infrastructure across the Gulf.Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, questioned the value of the proposed 60-day ceasefire, saying it would be a “disaster.”
“Everything achieved by Epic Operation Rage will be in vain!” said Wicker, R-Miss.
Trump: ‘It will take time to fix this’
Trump, who said he only makes good deals and does not like to be seen as not having the upper hand in any negotiations, rejected objections to the deal, which he said “has not yet been fully negotiated.”
“So don’t listen to losers who are critical about something they know nothing about,” he said on the social media platform.
Trump said the deal he and his representatives are working on is the “TOTAL OPPOSITE” of the nuclear deal Iran agreed to under the Democratic Obama administration. Trump withdrew from that agreement and is trying to reach a new agreement.
“Both parties should take their time and do the job right. There can be no mistakes!” Trump said.
He added that the US military blockade of Iranian ports “will remain in full effect until an agreement is reached, ratified and signed.”
Trump also received some support from Capitol Hill.
Also Read: Rubio tells NYT Iran nuclear deal can’t be done ‘within 72 hours’
GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has often been a thorn in the side of the president, defended the White House’s approach.
Paul wrote to X: “War almost always ends by negotiations.” “Critics of President Trump’s peace negotiations should give President Trump the space to find an America First solution.”
Regional officials told The Associated Press on Sunday that under the proposal, the war would end and Iran would reopen the strait and give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, with details and timelines to be determined within a 60-day period.
Critics voice objections as details emerge
Polls show that the war, which started with the US and Israel attacking Iran on February 28, is not well-liked by the American public and has cost US taxpayers at least $29 billion as of this month. 13 soldiers were killed during the operation.
Trump initially said the war would be over in four to six weeks, but tensions remain. Iran’s closure of the strait, through which approximately 20 percent of global energy supply passes, shook the world economy and caused the prices of gasoline and other goods to increase.
Mike Pompeo, one of Trump’s first-term secretaries of state, said on Saturday that the resulting agreement appeared to him to be the same as the Obama-era agreement from which Trump withdrew.
Pompeo said on X, “It has nothing to do with America First,” prompting a profane response from White House communications director Steven Cheung.
John Bolton, who was the national security advisor in the first term and criticized the president, said that the details of the plan that emerged appeared to favor the Iranian government.
“If the news about the upcoming Iran deal is true, the ayatollahs will have won a significant victory,” Bolton wrote on X on Sunday. “They will return to the path of nuclear weapons, supporting global terrorism and oppressing their own people.”
Rubio says nuclear Iran ‘won’t happen’
No president has been stronger against Iran than Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during his diplomatic mission in India on Sunday.
“No one should question his commitment to the principle that they will never have nuclear weapons,” Rubio said.
“And the idea that this president, given everything he’s already proven he’s willing to do, would somehow agree to a deal that would put Iran in a stronger position regarding nuclear ambitions is ridiculous. It’s not going to happen.”
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Trump opponent who is pushing legislation restricting the president’s ability to wage war against Iran, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that although the terms are not yet fully known, “If Lindsey Graham and Ted Cuz were leaving last night, I’d say it was probably a pretty good deal.”
Massie will leave Congress in January after incurring Trump’s wrath and losing the GOP primary to a Trump-backed opponent last week.
