Cruz blasts Trump Iran deal, warns against billions in aid
Ted Cruz called billions for Iran “an exceptionally bad idea” as Republican senators broke with Trump over a 60-day nuclear deal clock.
Republican resistance to Donald Trump’s Iran memorandum erupted into public view on Capitol Hill, with Ted Cruz, Bill Cassidy, Thom Tillis and Tom Cotton all breaking ranks over a deal that their own party says could hand Tehran major leverage. The dispute is not just about Iran’s nuclear program; it is a test of how far Trump can pull conservative foreign policy away from the hard-line instincts that long defined the party.
Cruz, the Texas senator who has spent years championing hawkish positions on Iran, delivered the sharpest attack. He called giving “billions” to Iran “an exceptionally bad idea” and warned, “History demonstrates that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is an exceptionally bad idea, and I think unfortunately the president is receiving some really bad advice on this deal.” Cruz added, “I don’t want to see us send a penny to the ayatollah, and I hope that we don’t.”
The backlash sharpened after Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran on Wednesday, beginning a reported 60-day negotiating clock toward a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. Republican critics said the arrangement could leave Iran stronger rather than restrained, especially if it includes sanctions relief on Iranian oil sales and a proposed $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran and its economy.
Cassidy, the Louisiana senator, called the agreement the “worst foreign policy blunder in decades,” while other Republicans warned that the deal appeared to allow Iran to keep some uranium enrichment capability and a ballistic missile program. Those objections go to the core of the GOP divide: whether any agreement that preserves elements of Iran’s nuclear and military infrastructure can be sold as a security win.
The criticism also carried a steep political and military ledger. Some Republicans argued the conflict had already cost the United States the lives of 13 American service members and more than $100 billion in spending. Trump allies have tried to calm the uproar by noting that the memorandum is not final, but the prospect of sanctions relief and a large-scale rebuilding fund has only intensified the revolt on Capitol Hill and among conservative commentators.
For Trump, the rupture is a warning sign. The Republican Party is still full of loyalists, but the Iran fight exposed a durable bloc that is willing to challenge him when diplomacy looks too generous to a long-standing adversary.
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