Booker: ‘Trump Is Being Played as a Fool’ by Iran
Democratic Senator Cory Booker criticized President Trump's Iran deal as worse than Obama's, claiming Tehran gained billions and advanced its nuclear program while America's position weakened.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Cory Booker of New Jersey criticised the reported memorandum of understanding with Tehran, which appears to include a 60-day ceasefire, reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and an Iranian commitment not to pursue nuclear weapons, as Breitbart News reports.
When asked by host Jake Tapper whether the emerging deal represents an improvement over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiated under President Barack Obama, Booker delivered a scathing assessment of Trump’s Iran policy.
According to the New Jersey Democrat, the President has failed to address Iran’s nuclear programme—the stated objective of his engagement with the regime. Booker noted that before Trump’s first term, Iran possessed no highly enriched uranium, having exported its stockpile under the previous agreement. That situation has now reversed, he argued.
Sanctions relief and financial flows criticised
Booker further accused Trump of hypocrisy, pointing out that the President had repeatedly condemned the Obama-era deal for releasing approximately 50 billion dollars to Iran. Yet under Trump’s watch, Booker claimed, over 14 billion dollars have already flowed to Tehran through continued oil sales during the current conflict. The sanctions relief included in the new understanding, he said, would funnel billions more to the regime.
The senator warned that financial relief would enable Iran to fund proxy terrorist groups across the Middle East, a concern Trump himself had voiced when attacking the original nuclear accord.
“Worse than it was before”
Booker concluded that Trump’s Iran policy has left America in a weaker position than before, with a more extreme regime in power and the Strait of Hormuz now serving as a point of leverage for Tehran. This weak nation has put America in a stalemate, and Donald Trump is being played as a fool, the senator stated, blaming the President for the deteriorating strategic situation.
The remarks reflect deepening partisan division over Middle East policy as details of the Iran understanding continue to emerge. Republicans have broadly supported Trump’s tougher stance toward Tehran, contrasting it with what they view as the Obama administration’s appeasement.
With information from Breitbart News
