From Matthew Fleming writing at Roll Call:
In case there was any doubt, which there probably wasn’t, Sen. Ted Cruz is not a fan of the Iran deal that President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday.
Indeed, he told CQ Roll Call Tuesday it will fund murder.
If the deal goes into effect, it “will result in the United States government becoming one of the leading funders of international terrorism,” and that “those American dollars will be used to murder Americans, to murder Israelis, to murder Europeans.”
The Texas Republican said a sensible commander in chief would demand that Iran disassemble all centrifuges, forfeit its enriched uranium, shut down its intercontinental ballistic missile program — which is solely to “carry a nuclear weapon to the U.S.” — and stop being the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.
Cruz called Obama’s speech announcing the deal “particularly shameful” for not mentioning Americans imprisoned in Iran — specifically Pastor Saeed Abedini, Marine veteran Amir Hekmati and journalist Jason Rezaian.
“To see the president not even mention Americans wallowing in Iranian prisons for having the temerity to profess their faith, for having the temerity to exercise their First Amendment rights, I cannot imagine the heartbreak and betrayal that [their] families must be feeling and that every American should be feeling at a president who doesn’t stand up and defend Americans,” Cruz said.
Cruz, of course, isn’t the only 2016 aspirant to oppose the Iran deal. The party’s candidates appear united in opposition.
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