'Nightmare for Israel': Republican hawks attack Trump's emerging Iran deal
Senior US Republicans have launched a rare public rebuke of President Donald Trump over the reported terms of the ceasefire agreement with Iran, warning they include major concessions that would strengthen Tehran and undermine Israel.
The criticism intensified on Sunday after Trump said a memorandum of understanding to end the US-Israeli war on Iran had been "largely negotiated" and was awaiting finalisation.
Trump said the agreement would include reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the vital global energy chokepoint that Iran has effectively controlled since the war began in late February.
He did not mention Iran's nuclear programme, despite repeatedly insisting that Iran would not be allowed to attain nuclear weapons.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Saturday that Tehran was finalising a memorandum of understanding that would serve as an initial framework agreement lasting between 30 and 60 days.
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According to Baghaei, the proposed 14-clause framework would cover issues including the Strait of Hormuz, the US naval blockade on Iran, and ending the war "on all fronts", including Lebanon. Reports have since suggested the possible release of frozen Iranian assets.
Iranian officials, however, have publicly insisted that nuclear issues are not a part of the current negotiations, with senior Iranian officials denying Tehran has agreed to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Weeks of negotiations since an 8 April ceasefire - including historic face-to-face talks in Islamabad - have yet to produce a permanent resolution or fully reopen the strait, triggering the largest oil supply disruption in global history.
However, the apparent concessions by Washington have triggered alarm among several Republican foreign policy hawks who strongly backed the war.
Senator Lindsey Graham warned on Saturday that any agreement leaving Iran militarily capable and politically intact would become a "nightmare for Israel".
"If a deal is struck to end the Iranian conflict because it is believed that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be protected from Iranian terrorism and Iran still possesses the capability to destroy major Gulf oil infrastructure, then Iran will be perceived as being a dominant force requiring a diplomatic solution," Graham wrote on X.
He added that Iran's perceived ability to threaten Gulf energy infrastructure "in perpetuity" would fundamentally shift the regional balance of power.
The criticism was amplified by other senior Republicans, including Senator Tom Cotton, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who reposted Graham's comments.
Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the "rumoured 60-day ceasefire" would be "a disaster".
"Everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught," Wicker wrote, using Washington's name for the war against Iran.
Earlier in the week, Wicker accused unnamed administration officials of pushing Trump towards "a deal that would not be worth the paper it is written on" instead of allowing the president to "finish the job he started".
Republican infighting
Senator Ted Cruz also joined the criticism, saying he was "deeply concerned" by reports about the emerging agreement.
"If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime - still run by Islamists who chant 'death to America' - now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake," Cruz wrote on X.
Unlike some other Republicans, Cruz explicitly referenced Trump by name while attempting to place blame on unnamed advisers "pushing" the deal within the administration.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered some of the sharpest criticism, comparing the emerging framework to the 2015 nuclear agreement negotiated under former President Barack Obama.
"The deal being floated with Iran seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook," Pompeo wrote, referring to officials associated with Obama-era diplomacy with Tehran.
Calling the reported terms "not remotely America First", Pompeo argued the US should instead continue pressuring Iran economically and militarily.
Former national security adviser John Bolton also dismissed the negotiations entirely, saying talks with Tehran were "a waste of oxygen".
Over the last week, Trump has alternated between renewing threats of escalation, including posting a picture on Saturday of Iran covered in a US flag.
During an interview with the US broadcaster CBS on Saturday, Trump said that the two sides were "getting a lot closer" to a deal, but also warned that if they do not reach an agreement "we're going to have a situation where no country will ever be hit as hard as they're about to be hit".
In a separate interview with the news outlet Axios, Trump said that the chances of a deal were a "solid 50-50".
"I think one of two things will happen: either I hit them harder than they have ever been hit, or we are going to sign a deal that is good," he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also struck an optimistic tone on Saturday, telling reporters during his trip to India that "some progress" had been made, adding that "even as I speak to you now, there's some work being done".
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