Cruz: Iran deal is a ‘historic mistake’

by Mark Hensch - 04/18/15 4:13 PM ET

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Saturday argued that finalizing any pact with Iran over its nuclear arms research would instantly produce one of the worst diplomatic deals of all time.

“It is a historic mistake,” Cruz told listeners at the New Hampshire Republican Party’s First In the Nation leadership summit in Nashua, N.H.

“Every year in Iran they celebrate ‘Death to America Day,’ ” the 2016 GOP presidential hopeful added.

{mosads}“If history teaches any principle, it is that if somebody says they want to kill you, believe them,” he concluded.

Cruz argued that even a framework accord with Iran would jeopardize global safety. Setting its details in stone, he charged, would prove catastrophic.

“The next 20 months are going to be a dangerous time,” Cruz said of President Obama’s remaining tenure.

“It’s going to be like ‘Lord of the Flies,’ ” Cruz added, citing William Golding’s 1954 dystopian novel about social disorder on an island of stranded children.

“The threat of a nuclear Iran is the single greatest threat to America’s national security,” he said.

The Texas lawmaker voiced gratitude Saturday that America was such a free country. That liberty, he argued, had allowed Congress to at least try countering Obama’s decisions.

“One of the greatest blessings we have is that in America we have no Supreme Leader,” Cruz said, referencing Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“If someone in Iran disagrees with the edicts of Supreme Leader Khamenei, they will take you and shoot you,” Cruz declared.

Obama decided Friday he would let Congress review any potential Iran agreement before its June 30 deadline for a final deal. Lawmakers will get 30 days to analyze the deal’s language.

The Obama administration has promised it will lift economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for greater restrictions on its atomic energy program. Tehran has vowed it will allow more frequent nuclear inspections and caps on its centrifuge and uranium stockpiles as part of the deal.

Obama has long argued diplomacy is the best strategy for preventing a nuclear Iran. Critics argue that Khamenei’s regime has proven too dishonest in past talks.

Cruz joined two other 2016 hopefuls – GOP Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) – in signing a letter sent to Iran’s leadership last month. It contained signatures from 47 GOP Senators vowing Congress would void any nuclear deal that threatened America’s safety.

– Updated at 4:30 p.m.

Tags Ted Cruz