Britain's The Independent has published a report revealing a wave of widespread anger and an unprecedented revolt within Republican Party ranks against US President Donald Trump, following his signing of a 14-point interim agreement in Versailles, France, to end the war with Iran.
According to the newspaper, senior Republican figures lined up to condemn the accord, describing Trump's plan as "the worst foreign policy mistake in decades" due to its provisions pledging to lift sanctions, reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and fund Iran's economic recovery through an international fund worth up to 300 billion dollars.
The newspaper carried sharp criticism from prominent leaders: Republican Senator Bill Cassidy declared that former president "Reagan is rolling in his grave," asserting that the agreement had not curbed Tehran's nuclear ambitions but had instead taught it that threatening shipping lanes pays off. In the same vein, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley attacked the provision of aid to rebuild a regime that chants "Death to America" and targets its soldiers, while analyst Marc Thiessen, appearing on Fox News, compared giving money to Iran to offering a "Marshall Plan" to Germany while the Nazis were still in power — a position backed by Senator Ted Cruz, who warned of billions of dollars flowing directly to Tehran before any nuclear concessions are made.
The Independent noted that the revolt also encompassed Trump's former inner circle: former Vice President Mike Pence issued a rare criticism urging the president to reverse course and maintain the blockade rather than pursue an appeasement policy resembling the Obama administration's earlier agreement, and demanding that the armed forces be allowed to finish the mission should Iran refuse to dismantle its missile and nuclear programmes. These angry reactions came in the wake of Trump's remarks at the close of the G7 summit, in which he said it was "unfair" to prevent Iran from retaining some of its ballistic missiles — a position at odds with his earlier pledges, made when military operations were launched, to eliminate that industry entirely.
Concluding its report, the newspaper noted that the agreement had produced silent fractures and tensions within the current US administration, with reports circulating that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had expressed clear concerns and reservations about the memorandum of understanding.
By contrast, Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf boasted that his country had achieved through negotiations several times more than it had sought militarily, while White House spokeswoman Olivia Wilks defended the agreement, describing it as an excellent memorandum of understanding that safeguards US interests, ends the fighting, and compels Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions following the destruction of its military capabilities in Operation "Epic Fury."