--- title: Iran Nuclear Deal: 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate Blast Obama description: Republicans with their eye on the presidency delivered harsh criticisms of the Iran nuclear deal canonical: https://time.com/3957350/iran-nuclear-deal-republicans-presidential-race/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-14T16:34:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:12.590Z article:section: Politics og:title: Republican Presidential Candidates Blast Iran Deal og:description: White House hopefuls call it a "nightmare" and "one of America's worst diplomatic failures" og:url: https://time.com/3957350/iran-nuclear-deal-republicans-presidential-race/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc196b4ff9d9d3bd5/69885a4435ba6ffadfc0e1e2/jeb-bush-jobs.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Republican Presidential candidate Jeb Bush speaks to the press at the 4th of July Parade in Merrimack, New Hampshire. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Republican Presidential Candidates Blast Iran Deal twitter:description: White House hopefuls call it a "nightmare" and "one of America's worst diplomatic failures" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc196b4ff9d9d3bd5/69885a4435ba6ffadfc0e1e2/jeb-bush-jobs.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republican Presidential Candidates Blast Iran Deal > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 14, 2015 4:34 PM UTC  Republican Presidential candidate Jeb Bush speaks to the press at the 4th of July Parade in Merrimack, New Hampshire. Republican Presidential candidate Jeb Bush speaks to the press at the 4th of July Parade in Merrimack, New Hampshire. Kayana Szymczak—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 14, 2015 4:34 PM UTC Republicans with their eye on the presidency delivered harsh criticisms of the deal the U.S. and other world powers struck with Iran over its nuclear program on Tuesday. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said in a [statement](https://twitter.com/JebBush/status/620976543075016704) that the deal, which would roll back sanctions on Iran in exchange for it curbing its nuclear program, “isn’t diplomacy—it is appeasement.” Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker [said the deal](https://twitter.com/ScottWalker/status/620955220135161860) will “will be remembered as one of America’s worst diplomatic failures.” And Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said it “[undermines our national security](http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=b521f117-cb22-4e18-af5c-36b0d2dc5692).” Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, [backed the deal](http://time.com/3957326/iran-nuclear-deal-hillary-clinton/), but her Republican rivals were unanimous in their disapproval. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham called the deal a “nightmare” in an interview with [_Bloomberg View_](http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-07-14/graham-iran-deal-akin-to-declaring-war-on-israel)_._ Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal also blasted the deal, saying in a [statement](http://www.nationaljournal.com/2016-elections/iran-deal-republican-presidential-candidates-20150714) that “if Secretary Clinton goes along with President Obama’s efforts to appease Iran, it will make our enemies stronger, endanger our ally Israel and trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East that will destabilize the region.” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz [urged Americans](https://www.tedcruz.org/news/cruz-we-still-have-an-opportunity-to-tell-the-truth-about-todays-mistake-of-historic-proportion/) to “to let their elected leaders know that even if President Obama won’t see it, we know the leaders of the Islamic Republic who lead crowds in chants of ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ are not our partners in peace, and must not be put on the path to a nuclear bomb.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3957350/iran-nuclear-deal-republicans-presidential-race/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3957350/iran-nuclear-deal-republicans-presidential-race/"},"headline":"Republican Presidential Candidates Blast Iran Deal","datePublished":"2015-07-14T16:34:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:12.590Z","description":"White House hopefuls call it a \"nightmare\" and \"one of America's worst diplomatic failures\"","url":"https://time.com/3957350/iran-nuclear-deal-republicans-presidential-race/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Iran","2016 elections","2016 Republicans"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc196b4ff9d9d3bd5/69885a4435ba6ffadfc0e1e2/jeb-bush-jobs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc196b4ff9d9d3bd5/69885a4435ba6ffadfc0e1e2/jeb-bush-jobs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican Presidential candidate Jeb Bush speaks to the press at the 4th of July Parade in Merrimack, New Hampshire.","caption":"Republican Presidential candidate Jeb Bush speaks to the press at the 4th of July Parade in Merrimack, New Hampshire.","creditText":"Kayana Szymczak—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3957350/iran-nuclear-deal-republicans-presidential-race/","name":"Republican Presidential Candidates Blast Iran Deal"}}]}] ```