Republican Presidential Candidates Blast Iran Deal

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 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 will “will be remembered as one of America’s worst diplomatic failures.” And Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said it “undermines our national security.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, backed the deal, 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. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal also blasted the deal, saying in a statement 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 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.”