Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) on Sunday escalated Republican opposition to the emerging Iran peace deal, declaring he cannot support it based on what he knows and questioning the logic of leaving nuclear material in Iranian hands.
“It doesn’t make sense to me,” Tillis said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” aligning himself with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who have both warned the deal could be a disaster.
Tillis was particularly harsh on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of providing flawed advice to President Trump. “We were told about 11 weeks ago by Hegseth and the Department of Defense that they had obliterated Iran’s defenses and it was just a matter of time before we had the nuclear material,” Tillis said. “Now we are talking about a posture where we may accept the nuclear material remaining in Iran? How does that make sense at all?”
The deal under discussion would reportedly allow oil tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for 20% of global supply that has been cut off during the conflict. That disruption has driven up U.S. gas prices, increasing political pressure on Trump in an election year.
Details remain scarce, but the proposed 60-day ceasefire does not appear to impose any limits on Iran’s nuclear program, leaving that issue for future talks. Hegseth, Pompeo, Wicker, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) have all questioned the wisdom of negotiating nuclear terms after a ceasefire, with Hegseth also casting doubt on Iran’s commitment to clear the strait.
Tillis insisted any final agreement must be ratified by Congress, a stance that echoes broader GOP concerns about executive overreach. He also took aim at Hegseth’s broader record, including his handling of the war in Ukraine and troop deployments to Poland, calling it a pattern of mistakes.
“When you see these mistakes made by Hegseth, actually, with all these mistakes in total, it’s beginning to make Kristi Noem look like a five-star recruit,” Tillis quipped, referencing the former Homeland Security secretary fired earlier this year amid GOP criticism.
The Trump administration has pushed back against the criticism, particularly from Pompeo, as the debate over the deal intensifies. For more on the administration's defense posture, read Hegseth’s recent remarks at West Point. Tillis’s comments also come amid broader tensions with Trump, as seen in his earlier critique of the president’s rhetoric.
