As deal takes force, Trump says ‘it’s okay’ for Iran to have some ballistic missiles
“If other countries have them, it’s a little bit unfair for them not to have some,” Trump said in France, where he held a press conference on the sidelines of a G7 summit. “If Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and they all have some, I would say that in relative proportion, I think it’s okay” for Iran to have ballistic missiles as well.
“Missiles aren’t the problem… They hurt a little location, but they don’t blow up the planet (like nuclear weapons do),” Trump said.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-de...or-iran-to-have-some-ballistic-missiles/Senate Republicans raise alarm over Trump’s deal with Iran
President Trump’s deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting sanctions on Iran is getting strong pushback from Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill who warn that giving Iran’s theocratic regime access to billions of dollars in economic relief would be a major “blunder.”
Some Republicans are warning that the likely outcome of the more than 100-day conflict is not worth the cost to the nation: the lives of 13 American service members and more than $100 billion spent.
“Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” fumed Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) in a social media post, calling the war and its outcome the “worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”
“Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future. Now, Iran gets to build brand-new infrastructure under this deal,” he wrote on the social platform X.
“Now, 13 Americans are dead, families have paid billions at the pump, sanctions will be lifted, and the bombing has stopped,” he continued.
Most concerning to some Senate GOP critics is that the deal will immediately lift sanctions on Iranian oil exports and may lead to the unfreezing of Iranian assets around the world.
“History teaches that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is not a good idea. I think the president is receiving some very poor advice on this deal,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
The deal leaves open the future of Iran’s nuclear program and does not clearly prohibit Iran from levying tolls on the Strait of Hormuz at some point in the future, according to senators who reviewed the deal.
It also leaves open the future of Iran’s missile program, which remains robust even after weeks of American and Israeli bombardment, according to intelligence estimates.
A classified CIA assessment estimated that Iran still had 70 percent of its prewar missile stockpile and 75 percent of its mobile missile launchers, according to a report by The Washington Post.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said the lack of significant Iranian concessions on its nuclear program, its weapons arsenal and its long-standing practice of funding militant proxies throughout the Middle East raises serious concerns. He pointed out the deal doesn’t prevent Iran from continuing to enrich uranium or toll the strait, and “it gives them a lot of money they can use to fund their proxies.”
The agreement would only guarantee that Iran does not impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz for a period of 60 days. After that time, Iran will negotiate with Oman to define the future administration of, and maritime services through, the strait.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said it’s hard to argue that Trump’s decision to order joint missile strikes with Israel against Iran in late February produced an outcome to justify the cost in lives and munitions.
Tillis said the deal appears weak “on its face.”
“You got to do the balance of accounts: a hundred billion roughly, maybe more, spent today; 13 dead, 365 wounded, injured; our partners in the Middle East bombed, they’ve had casualties. There’s got to be a lot of return on that,” Tillis said, summing up the cost of the conflict.
He said Trump appears to have fallen well short of his objectives at the start of the war.
“We set out by saying we were going to drive down to zero their nuclear capability. Now we’re equivocating on that. We said that we were not going to make the mistake that Obama did by sending them a plane full of cash. I got to reconcile the numbers there,” he said.
“There’s a lot of work to be done to convince me that we’re on the right path,” Tillis added.
The Trump administration has conducted briefings with Senate allies such as Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) to highlight the benefits of the deal, such as the reopening of the critical Strait of Hormuz.
Moreno says that while Iran will benefit from the easing of sanctions on its oil exports, U.S. consumers will also benefit from lower fuel and fertilizer prices, which factor heavily into the cost of food and other goods and services.
“That helps us. Yes, of course it helps the Iranians also. It helps us lower energy prices,” he said.
Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday evening, Moreno expressed his hope that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) would lead to a lasting agreement to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“We’re on the verge of a historic possibility in a world that is not under threat by Iran, where we don’t live in fear of an Iranian regime with a nuclear weapon,” he said.
But Republican critics of the deal aren’t taking much comfort in the prospect of lower oil and gas prices when Trump’s decision to start the conflict caused prices to spike upward in the first place.
West Texas Intermediate crude was priced at $67 a barrel before the conflict and surged up to $120 a barrel. It dropped to $76 a barrel on Wednesday.
“It’s an awful deal. It’s kind of JCPOA-plus,” Cassidy told The Hill, comparing the MOU to the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which former President Obama negotiated with Iran in 2015.
Trump withdrew from Obama’s Iran deal in May of 2018. At the time, the Trump administration said the Obama deal “enriched the Iranian regime and enabled its malign behavior.” The administration at the time also said it had delayed Iran’s “ability to pursue nuclear weapons” while “allowing it to preserve nuclear research and development.”
Cassidy said Trump’s new MOU with Iran “is going to leave Iran stronger, and it’s going to leave our allies weaker, and it may commit U.S. taxpayer dollars.”
The memorandum states the U.S. will work with “regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Cassidy said Iran now has leverage over the rest of the world through its demonstrated ability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz.
“Now, Iran recognizes they can use their leverage over the Strait of Hormuz to extract from the other countries of the world whatever they want. And whereas before there was a credible threat that something would happen if they attempted to do so, I think that threat under this president seems to be exhausted,” he said.
Many Republican senators are skeptical that Iran will negotiate an end to its nuclear enrichment in good faith.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) warned last month that agreeing to a 60-day ceasefire to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran would be a “disaster.”
“The rumored 60-day ceasefire — with the belief that Iran will ever engage in good faith — would be a disaster. Everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught!” he warned in a post on X.
Wicker on Wednesday declined to comment on the deal.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of Trump’s closest allies in the Senate, acknowledged Iran probably won’t agree to a deal to give up its nuclear enrichment program but argued it would be worth a try to reach a lasting deal to stop it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“It opens up the strait, it continues the suspension of hostilities, it creates space to see if you can get a deal — I doubt if they can — on the nuclear program, but why not try?” Graham said.
“If you can find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear ambitions, go for it. The MOU puts that in place,” he added.
GOP senators say there will now be a lot of pressure on the Trump administration to come up with a strong agreement to end Iran’s nuclear program in the next 60 days.
“When you say this is on the ledger for Iran, certainly helping them, what we need to look at then is what is the corresponding win for the United States?” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). “I think we actually need to look at the agreement itself. I think we need to have it presented to us with an opportunity for us to ask those questions.”
Republican senators and a senior Senate GOP aide said they were not aware of any plan to brief the broader Senate on the details of the agreement and what to expect from the negotiations over the next 60 days.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5929430-trump-iran-deal-republican-backlash/From what I've managed to gather the total of the money will come from sanction relief. Iranian funds were frozen all around the globe. This would release those funds. It's the same exact thing Obama did only Obama did in on a much smaller scale with a lot less cash.
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