Even before the White House released the actual text of its agreement with Iran on Wednesday, leaked snippets were getting a lot of Republicans nervous. Allowing Iran to sell oil again? Lifting sanctions? A $300 billion economic development deal? Five months after joining Israel in starting a war that he predicted would be over quickly, President Donald Trump is hurtling toward a ceasefire that some in his party are struggling to defend.
In fact, almost no one in Washington seems particularly excited about this deal, either the outdated version that leaked late yesterday, or the official one a Senior U.S. Official read aloud on a call with reporters today. Many downright hate it. And in private, more than a few nat-sec nerds on the Hill say this looks an awful lot like the early stages of where the Obama Administration ended up landing.
Which wouldn’t necessarily be so terrible if Trump wasn’t the one who lit that deal on fire during his first term.
Yet to be clear, this agreement—due to be signed on Friday in Switzerland—is far from the comprehensive agreement struck during the Obama era. This is merely a 60-day ceasefire that is “extendable with mutual consent” while Iran and the United States talk about Iran’s nuclear program, which was Trump’s stated premise to get this whole affair in motion back in February.
Look no further than Lindsey Graham to see how little enthusiasm this potential “deal” is generating.
The South Carolina Republican is a typically buoyant cheerleader of all things Trump. So as the White House was circulating a concise tentative agreement on Wednesday that would stop missiles flying in the region and reopen one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, Graham spoke with the United States’ top negotiator, Steve Witkoff. After the call, he offered tepid praise “in as much as the Strait of Hormuz will begin to open, and the hostilities with Iran will stop.”
Then he immediately added a caveat. “Whether or
