Republican Senators Alarmed at the Proposed Deal With Iran

If we are to believe the reports, the deal that Trump is now about to make with Iran will not include the removal from the Islamic Republic of 144 kg. of uranium enriched to a level of 60%, which is just one level below the 90% enrichment which is weapons-grade. (This report, however, does say otherwise.) The Israelis are “deeply concerned” — actually, horrified — at what Trump seems about to sign. The Iranians appear to be running rings around the man who thinks of himself as the world’s greatest dealmaker. But it’s not just the Israelis who are appalled. It’s also Republican congressmen who are openly criticizing Trump.

Among them is Senator Thom Tillis, whose reaction to the latest rumors about a peace deal can be found here: “Tillis slams emerging Iran deal, offers sharp criticism for Hegseth,” by Ian Swanson, The Hill, May 24, 2026:

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Sunday added his voice to other Republicans criticizing an emerging peace deal with Iran, saying he would not support it based on his understanding of what it includes.

“It doesn’t make sense to me,” Tillis said of the deal, arguing it was a mistake to leave nuclear material in Iran.

“I’m not too far away from where Pompeo is to be honest with you, and I support what Chairman Wicker says,” Tillis said during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are among the current and former officeholders to criticize the emerging deal, which Wicker warned would be a disaster.

The Trump administration has pushed back on the criticism, particularly from Pompeo.

Tillis was also blistering in his criticism of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who he accused of giving bad advice on the war to Trump.

“We were told about 11 weeks ago by Hegseth and Department of Defense that they had obliterated Iran’s defenses and it was just a matter of time before we had the nuclear material. Now we are talking about a posture where we may accept the nuclear material remaining in Iran? How does that make sense at all?” Tillis said….

Perhaps the complaints from such Senators as Tillis, Wicker, Cruz, and Lindsey Graham, all of them considered to be Trump loyalists who have now noisily criticized the Iran deal as they believe it to be, with Wicker calling it a “disaster,” will cause Trump to refuse to agree unless removal of the uranium is included. Why, even his own secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has continued to insist that “removal of the enriched uranium” must be part of the deal. Has Trump now overruled Rubio? Is the president so desperate to open the Strait of Hormuz in order to bring down the prices of oil and food before the midterm elections that he will bow to Iran’s terms?

And it is not just senators who are alarmed. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that what he had learned of the deal made him think of the deal Barack Obama made with Iran. This infuriated the White House Communications Director, Stephen Cheung, who denounced Pompeo in the coarsest possible way. After Pompeo wrote in a post on X that the deal being floated was “not remotely America First. the deal being floated with Iran seems straight out of the Wendy Sherman-Robert Malley-Ben Rhodes playbook: Pay the IRGC to build a WMD program and terrorize the world,” Cheung lashed out, writing in response:

“Mike Pompeo has no idea what the f— he’s talking about. Hek should shut his stupid mouth and leave the real work to the professionals. He’s not read into anything that’s happening, so how would he know.”

What a way for a White House Communications Director to communicate. Cheung needs to have his mouth washed out with soap. Possibly Senator Fetterman could do it. Meanwhile, let us hope that all this criticism from hard-headed Republicans will have an effect on Trump, keeping him from making what right now, from what is known or suspected, looks like a terrible deal.

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