Iran protests reveal Republican fracture over nuclear deal
Iran hawks are pushing the Trump administration to terminate the agreement, but Republican leaders worry US pressure could backfire.
The unrest in Iran has exacerbated a split among Republicans who were widely critical of the Barack Obama administration’s tepid response to similar protests in 2009.
Some congressional hawks are urging President Donald Trump to show solidarity with anti-government demonstrators by reinstating sanctions that were lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear agreement and pull out of the deal. But others are advocating a more cautious approach.
“President Obama did far too little to encourage the 2009 protests and indeed his administration tragically was far more focused on cutting a deal with [Tehran] on sending billions of dollars to that despotic regime than on standing up for the people of Iran who desire to be free,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Al-Monitor. “The president should not sign the next waiver but instead should reimpose sanctions and we should be doing everything humanly possible to put pressure on the regime and to topple the ayatollah [Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei], who poses the single greatest long-term national security threat to the United States.”
Other members echoed the sentiment.
