Senate hawks balk at Trump Iran deal

WASHINGTON (CN) — President Donald Trump’s 14-point agreement ending his war with Iran got an icy reception from Senate Republicans on Thursday, as top lawmakers blasted the plan as a gift to Iran that runs counter to the White House’s stated goals in the conflict.

It’s a rare rebuke of the president from Republicans in Congress that comes just hours after Trump announced he’d signed the deal with Tehran during a trip to France — and as the White House scrambles to control the message around the controversial plan.

The agreement, referred to as a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, lays out the initial groundwork for what both countries say will be a final deal to end the war. Among the memorandum’s provisions, Iran agreed to lift its closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. committed to end its own naval blockade on Iranian naval traffic and lift certain sanctions on the country.

But there were several sections of the 14-point plan which riled members of Congress, particularly Republicans. Among those was the Trump administration’s agreement to work with regional partners to provide a $300 billion fund to Iran for “the reconstruction and economic development” of Iran.

The memorandum also says Iran will reaffirm that it will not “procure or develop” nuclear weapons but left ambiguous the exact mechanism for enforcing that provision, saying instead the details would be hammered out over the next 60 days.

On Capitol Hill Thursday, Republican senators were incensed with the agreement, which some said was a gift to the Iranian regime. Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was concerned the memorandum of understanding “negotiates away” what he called the victories of Trump’s war with Iran “in ways that are completely out of step with the president’s goals.”

In a statement, Wicker pointed to the $300 billion development fund for Iran, arguing that while it would not be bankrolled by U.S. taxpayers, it would make financial agreements with Tehran inked under the Obama administration’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — roundly panned by Republicans at the time — look like a “pittance.”

The Mississippi Republican added that he opposed sanctions relief or efforts to unfreeze Iranian financial assets in exchange for a “mere agreement” to continue negotiations on the country’s nuclear program.

“The Iranian regime has not renounced its ultimate goal — ‘Death to America, Death to Israel,’” Wicker said. “The regime will invest every penny it receives to further that aim.”

The senator also appeared to shift blame away from Trump himself, writing that the president had “pursued peace through strength” but that “intermediaries” working on the Iran agreement may have undermined that goal.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz offered a similar criticism, telling reporters he thought Trump was receiving “very, very poor advice” on the Iran deal.

“History demonstrates that sending billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is a very bad idea,” he said.

And Cruz’s fellow Texas Republican, Senator John Cornyn, claimed the $300 billion fund would not be used for “constructive and useful” purposes.

“I don’t think anybody should be under any illusion that they have lost interest in developing a nuclear weapon or in wiping Israel off the map and remaining at war with the United States,” he said. “I think this is just intermission — I don’t think this is a conclusion.”

Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts offered a more veiled criticism of the Trump-Iran memorandum, writing in a statement that he was hopeful the deal would lay the groundwork for a “lasting diplomatic solution,” but that he would be following “what economic benefits Iran may be receiving from this deal and in what time frame.”

The White House, meanwhile, pushed back hard Thursday on criticism and sought to reframe the conversation around the deal’s provisions.

“Not a single U.S. penny is going to Iran, and Iran gets nothing unless they fully comply with our demands and change their behavior,” the administration wrote in a post on X from its official account. Trump in a separate post on his social media platform Truth Social wrote there was “no 300 Billion Dollar payment” to Iran, saying the idea was “propaganda” from Democrats.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Vice President JD Vance insisted the administration’s agreement with Iran was distinct from the Obama-era JCPOA, arguing the country’s neighbors around the Persian Gulf “hated” the 2015 deal but “love” the new memorandum.

Vance argued the Trump administration had already destroyed Iranian nuclear capabilities and the agreement required Tehran to show “verifiable pathways” that they were not rebuilding their nuclear program before the U.S. agreed to sanctions relief and other sweeteners.

“It’s fundamentally different,” he claimed.

The vice president also told reporters the Trump administration did not need congressional approval to lift sanctions on Iran, alluding to a legal opinion from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel which he said the White House was “very confident” about.

“There are certain things that require congressional approval and there are certain things that don’t require congressional approval,” said Vance. “We feel quite confident that we can temporarily lift those sanctions without going to Congress and seeking their approval.”

Follow @BenjaminSWeiss