Key Trump ally blasts administration for extending Iran nuclear waivers
The Donald Trump administration is casting the renewal of four civil nuclear waivers as “restrictions” on Iran’s nuclear program, but Sen. Ted Cruz argues that they enable Tehran.
Iran hawks in Congress are unhappy with the Donald Trump administration’s announcement that it will extend four waivers enabling other countries to cooperate with Tehran on certain civil nuclear activities.
The waivers are among the last remnants of former President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, which President Trump withdrew from in 2018. And while Trump’s maximum pressure campaign and stinging sanctions on Iran have pleased some of his closest Republican allies, such as Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas lawmaker expressed disappointment over today’s announcement.
“Sen. Cruz has been public and explicit about the need to end these civil nuclear waivers, which allow Iran to continue building its nuclear program,” a Cruz spokesperson told Al-Monitor. “The officials inside the Trump administration who continue to push for these waivers are committed to preserving the catastrophic Obama-Iran nuclear deal, contrary to what President Trump has called for."
Despite Cruz’s contention that the waivers enable Iran’s nuclear program, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus framed the waivers as “restrictions on the Iranian regime’s nuclear program.”
