--- title: Rouhani: GOP Critics of Nuke Deal Couldn't Find Iran on Map description: Republican candidates for president would not be able to find Iran on a map canonical: https://time.com/4051798/nuclear-iran-rouhani/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-28T12:46:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T11:18:35.731Z article:section: World og:title: Rouhani: GOP Critics of Nuke Deal Couldn't Find Iran on Map og:description: Republican candidates for president would not be able to find Iran on a map og:url: https://time.com/4051798/nuclear-iran-rouhani/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e60cbb54df25b96/698865c0a988ca591d6b4912/rouhani.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: United Nations General Assembly - September 26, 2015 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rouhani: GOP Critics of Nuke Deal Couldn't Find Iran on Map twitter:description: Republican candidates for president would not be able to find Iran on a map twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e60cbb54df25b96/698865c0a988ca591d6b4912/rouhani.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # GOP Critics of Nuclear Deal Couldn't Find Iran on a Map, Says Iranian President Rouhani by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Sep 28, 2015 12:46 PM CUT  The President of Iran Mr. Hassan Rouhani attends the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations in New York City, on Sept. 26, 2015. The President of Iran Mr. Hassan Rouhani attends the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations in New York City, on Sept. 26, 2015.Steve Sands—Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Sep 28, 2015 12:46 PM CUT Some of the Republican candidates for president who attack the nuclear deal with Iran would not be able to find the country on a map or know that Tehran is the capital, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday, dismissing GOP critics of the deal. “Some of it was quite laughable,” Rouhani said of the Republican debates, speaking with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Sunday. “It was very strange the things they spoke of. Some of them wouldn’t even know where Tehran was in relation to Iran some wouldn’t even know where Iran was geographically.” “So what they spoke of was quite far away from the truth,” he continued, speaking through an interpreter. “So the people of Iran were looking at it as a form of entertainment, if you will, and found it laughable.” Many of the Republican candidates for president, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former HP CEO Carly Fiorina promised have vowed to tear up the Iran deal if they are elected. The U.S. Congress failed to block the Iran deal, announced in July of this year, which limits Iran’s nuclear program and lifts many of the sanctions placed on the country. Rouhani criticized Republicans for saying they would cancel the agreement signed by the U.S. government and six world powers. “Can a government become a signatory to an international agreement and then the subsequent government tear it to shreds? This is something that only the likes of Saddam Hussein would do,” he said. “So finally, I think most of these are political slogans at best.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4051798/nuclear-iran-rouhani/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4051798/nuclear-iran-rouhani/"},"headline":"GOP Critics of Nuclear Deal Couldn't Find Iran on a Map, Says Iranian President Rouhani","datePublished":"2015-09-28T12:46:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:18:35.731Z","description":"He accuses Republican presidential candidates of making \"political slogans\" on nuclear deal","url":"https://time.com/4051798/nuclear-iran-rouhani/","keywords":["Iran","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e60cbb54df25b96/698865c0a988ca591d6b4912/rouhani.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6e60cbb54df25b96/698865c0a988ca591d6b4912/rouhani.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"United Nations General Assembly - September 26, 2015","caption":"United Nations General Assembly - September 26, 2015","creditText":"Steve Sands—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/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/iran/","name":"Iran"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4051798/nuclear-iran-rouhani/","name":"GOP Critics of Nuclear Deal Couldn't Find Iran on a Map, Says Iranian President Rouhani"}}]}] ```