Sen. Ted Cruz has urged the administration to stop extending waivers allowing some countries to continue purchasing Iranian oil.
By John Hudson John Hudson National security reporter focusing on the State Department and diplomacy. Email Bio Follow April 13 at 11:18 AM Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said U.S. lawmakers calling for an even harder sanctions policy against Iran were grandstanding and vowed that the State Department would ultimately “get it right” when it comes to exerting the needed level of pressure.
The comments exposed a rare rift between prominent Iran hawks such as Pompeo and a group including Cruz and national security adviser John Bolton that favors an even harder-line approach to fulfill a promise of getting Iran’s oil exports to zero. “People want to tell stories, people want to sell newspapers. I’ve got it. Congressmen will grandstand, I’ve got that too. The State Department’s going to get it right,” he said during an interview with two reporters on his plane en route to Paraguay. “We’re going to put pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the regime, until we get for the Iranian people what it is they deserve: the chance to live a normal life in a state that isn’t the world’s largest state sponsor of terror.
President Trump, who will announce his decision on the waivers when they expire in early May, has remained out of the fight brewing in his administration over the issue.
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