Texan blasted the Trump-backed agreement as misguided, saying it would result in Iran getting billions of dollars that will help it obtain nuclear weapons.
By Joseph Morton
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
WASHINGTON – Sen. Ted Cruz excoriated the Trump administration’s Iran deal Friday, saying it would result in a massive windfall for terrorists and more dead Americans.
“Giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is a very, very bad idea,” Cruz said on his podcast. “This deal envisions funneling $300 billion to the ayatollah and the Islamic regime in Iran. That would be a very serious mistake. If the ayatollah gets $300 billion, that money will be used to fund terrorism and to murder Americans.”
Cruz’s comments represent some of the most blistering criticism of the deal from a prominent Republican, but he’s not alone.
Other GOP lawmakers have questioned the wisdom of lifting sanctions on Iran and establishing the fund that would help rebuild Iran after months of punishing U.S. military strikes.
Republican backlash to the deal is heavy with 2028 presidential campaign implications as Cruz and other possible successors to President Donald Trump have begun jockeying for position.
Vice President JD Vance, mentioned frequently as a contender, has become the public face of the administration’s Iran deal, defending it in media interviews.
Cruz, who lost the 2016 Republican primary to Trump, also has made moves indicating he may run again. Cruz said the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Iran appears to pave the way for Iran levying tolls on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The deal includes no concrete mechanism for preventing Iran from using the money it would receive under the deal to pursue a nuclear weapon, which could wipe out hundreds of thousands of Americans in the blink of an eye, Cruz said.
While deriding the deal itself in harsh terms, Cruz softened his direct criticism of Trump by saying the president is “getting very poor advice” and adding that he hopes the administration changes course.
Cruz said earlier in the week he was concerned about reports of the $300 billion and hoping they were untrue.
Donald Trump Jr. responded sharply to some of Cruz’s previous comments, posting on X this week that the senator “is lying thru his teeth” about the MOU.
“We’re not giving them a cent and he knows that,” the president’s son posted. “Using fake news about the peace deal to undermine [President Trump] is the opposite of MAGA.”
President Trump said earlier this week at the G7 summit in France that the government will not be providing “10 cents” for the redevelopment of Iran.
“We have the right to go in some day and do, if I want to do something, or if somebody wants to do something, but we are not investing any money,” Trump said.
During his Friday podcast, Cruz responded generally to the idea the United States won’t be responsible for delivering cash to Iran.
Cruz read aloud a paragraph from the MOU that states the United States “undertakes 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.”
The MOU says the plan’s implementation details will be finalized within 60 days and all “requested licenses, waivers and permissions needed for the relevant financial transactions will be granted by the United States of America.”
Cruz said that language doesn’t rule out taxpayer money going toward the $300 billion, adding the money’s source is largely irrelevant.
“I don’t want a lunatic religious fanatic who chants death to America to receive $300 billion, whether it comes from us or it comes from some other regional partners,” Cruz said.
He said the deal would immediately release up to $30 billion to Iran, which he called a “really foolish idea.”
The deal has drawn comparisons to the Iran agreement negotiated by President Barack Obama’s administration, an agreement Republicans have pilloried as a handout to Iran.
Former Obama administration officials have pushed back, saying the agreement curbed Iran’s nuclear program through inspections and limits on enrichment.
Cruz rejected comparisons of Obama and Trump policies, saying Obama flooded Iran with cash while Trump made a “heroic” decision to hit Iran hard militarily and prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons.
The U.S. military action has wiped out Iran’s navy and air force, as well as its ballistic missiles and drones and its facilities for manufacturing those missiles and drones, Cruz said.
“It doesn’t make any sense at all for us to now go and build everything back,” Cruz said. “What was the point of blowing it up if we’re going to build it back? And the idea that we would have effectively a Marshall Plan for Iran is not remotely in America’s interest.”
Washington Bureau
Joseph Morton covers the intersection of business and politics in the Washington Bureau. Before joining The News, Joseph worked for CQ Roll Call and the Omaha World-Herald. He graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
