Cruz: European ‘posturing’ over Iran deal due to business ties

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said on Thursday that European nations are not supporting President Trump’s decision to exit the Iran nuclear deal because of business ties to the country. 

“We’re going to see some posturing in European capitals, and the reason is because there are some big European companies that want to do business with Iran, and that’s got a lot of the European countries defending this deal,” Cruz said on “Fox & Friends.” 

{mosads}”When the deal was being negotiated, I had European ambassadors in my office asking for my help, saying the Obama administration is pressuring us, we think this is a foolish deal, will you help us press back?'” he continued. “No one should be surprised that their companies are interested in money.”

Trump announced on Tuesday that the U.S. would be leaving the multination agreement. 

British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel released a joint statement condemning Trump’s move while pushing Iran to “continue to meet its own obligations under the deal.”

“Our governments remain committed to ensuring the agreement is upheld, and will work with all the remaining parties to the deal to ensure this remains the case including through ensuring the continuing economic benefits to the Iranian people that are linked to the agreement,” the leaders said. 

Cruz has long been an opponent of the Obama-era deal and campaigned on repealing the agreement during his White House bid, saying in 2015 that he would rip the deal to shreds. 

“I think the president did exactly the right thing to pull out of the Iran deal,” Cruz said. “For the last year and a half, I’ve been talking to the president, urging him to take this course, and I think the president has steadily been on this path.”