Republican senators split over Trump’s Iran deal

Senator Bill Cassidy, a senior Republican and former Democrat, launched an unusually sharp public attack on President Donald Trump’s agreement with Iran, warning that it could damage U.S. security for years. Cassidy invoked Ronald Reagan’s legacy, saying, “Reagan is turning in his grave,” and argued that Iran had not been stopped from pursuing nuclear ambitions and had learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works.

Cassidy said the deal would allow Tehran to build “a completely new infrastructure” under the agreement. He contrasted the situation before and after the deal, saying that before the war the strait was open, Iran was being crushed by sanctions, and 13 service members were still alive. Now, he said, “13 Americans are dead,” families have paid “billions” at the gas pump, sanctions will be lifted, and the bombing has stopped. He called it “the worst foreign policy failure in decades.”

In a striking contrast, Senator Lindsey Graham, long one of the most pro-Israel Republican voices and a critic of any compromise with Iran, appeared to soften his stance. He posted that Trump’s move could help the United States if it leads to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending hostility with Iran.

Graham said it was not yet clear whether Washington could secure a “acceptable and verifiable” agreement on Iran’s nuclear program and other issues, but he saw “little downside” to trying. He tied the deal to broader goals, saying economic stability, expanded Abraham Accords, and normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel remained the ultimate objective.