President Trump on Sunday said the agreement his negotiators are hammering out with Iran shouldn’t be compared to the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, widely known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, that required Tehran to limit its nuclear program in exchange for international sanctions relief.
Mr. Trump called the JCPOA “one of the worst deals ever made by our country” and said his team is proceeding in an “orderly and constructive manner.”
“I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal, in that time is on our side,” Mr. Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social. “The blockade will remain in full force until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed.”
He said the U.S. relationship with Iran is becoming “more professional and productive” since the negotiations began to end the fighting between Iran and the U.S.-Israel coalition and open up the Strait of Hormuz.
“They must understand, however, that they cannot develop or procure a nuclear weapon or bomb,” Mr. Trump wrote.
Some GOP supporters of the White House are concerned about unduly rushing into a peace deal with Iran after so much effort was made to destroy its military capabilities.
“If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime — still run by the Islamics who chant ‘death to America’ — now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium and develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake,” Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, wrote on Twitter.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back against fellow Republicans who worry that a peace deal with Iran will leave the ruling regime in a commanding position. President Trump’s commitment to a nuclear weapon-free Tehran shouldn’t be questioned, he said.
“The idea that somehow this president, given everything he’s already proven he’s willing to do, is going to somehow agree to a deal that ultimately winds up putting Iran in a stronger position when it comes to nuclear ambitions is absurd. That’s just not going to happen,” Mr. Rubio said Sunday while on a four-day diplomatic trip to India. “Our preference is to address this through diplomatic means, and that’s what we’re endeavoring to do.”
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