Trump’s Iran deal ‘giving a lot more to get a lot less’ than Obama’s, senator says

President Donald Trump’s preliminary agreement with Iran is making its way through the media, but it still hasn’t made its way into the hands of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. 

Those who have read the reports are split on the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that the administration intends to finalize in a ceremonial signing on Friday. 

Some say it’s a worse outcome than former President Barack Obama’s Iranian nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which Trump ripped up in his first term. 

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“Everything I’ve seen is, like, what’s being reported by Bloomberg or the read-out on this thing is, we are giving a lot more to get a lot less than we got in the JCPOA,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said. 

“Now, I can’t say that with an exclamation point on it until I actually see the memorandum, but every bit of reporting, thus far, says, we’re giving a lot more to get a lot less than what we had before Donald Trump,” he continued.

The schism on the MOU doesn’t follow party lines, either. 

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“Reagan is rolling over in his grave,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said on X. “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.”

Administration officials revealed the plan to reporters on Wednesday and detailed plans for immediate waivers on Iranian oil exports, a framework for at least $300 billion in reconstruction and economic development, and a 60-day negotiation period aimed at securing a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.

But the agreement, in its current form, falls short of dealing with the central issue that started the war in the first place: Iran’s nuclear program. 

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Instead, it commits both sides to negotiate the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and future enrichment activities as part of a final agreement. 

Kaine, who pushed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) during the Obama administration that requires congressional review of any nuclear deal with Iran, said that from what he’s seen, the memorandum “probably touches enough on the nuclear program that it would have to be submitted to Congress.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was previously skeptical of the burgeoning deal earlier in the week, now appears to support it. When asked about Cassidy’s take on the MOU, Graham said, “I like Bill, but I don’t think he quite understands what’s going on here.” 

“I don’t think the MOU is a deal, it’s a framework of how to get a deal,” Graham said. “There are parts of it I don’t like. The way I look at it, is if you can find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear ambitions, go for it. And the MOU puts it in place.”

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When asked if he was OK with sanctions being lifted on Iranian oil exports, Graham said he was fine with the idea in the short-term and the money that would flow in, “Because if the deal doesn’t work, all that stops.” 

“What I’m worried about is not taking an opportunity here to find a diplomatic solution,” he said. “Because if you fail, then what is left is war.”