Blog Briefing Room

Cheney: Obama’s Iran deal a ‘train wreck’

Dick Cheney says President Obama will regret his nuclear deal with Iran, calling the accord a “train wreck.”

“I cannot explain [President Obama’s] motives other than he thinks this is going to be a great legacy for his presidency,” the former vice president told the Washington Free Beacon on Wednesday. “I think it’s going to be a train wreck, and he’s not going to want to claim it down the road. He’ll have to find a way to blame it on somebody else.”

{mosads}“I think Obama may want to claim it as his legacy as he leaves office, but I think it will never be forgotten in the Middle East as the time the United States turned its back on all its friends and allies and signed on with the mullahs in Tehran,” he said.

Cheney also said the deal will be a black mark on the records of lawmakers who vote to approve it.

“Those who vote for it will at some point look back on it as a very bad vote,” Cheney said. “The fact that [it would be] pumping over $100 billion to the world’s largest supporter of terrorism, lifting the embargo on things like ballistic missiles and conventional armaments, setting a path for [Iran] to pursue the development of nuclear weapons.”

The deal restricts Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons in exchange for lifting international trade sanctions.

Cheney, 74, has been outspoken about a variety of issues recently as he promotes his new book, Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America, which he co-wrote with his daughter, Liz Cheney.

He has also been critical of Obama’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, saying that the power vacuum allowed the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to gain a foothold.

Cheney has yet to endorse a candidate in the GOP primary. He said former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.) still needed to earn his endorsement, despite Cheney serving in the administrations of both his father, former President George H.W. Bush, and brother, former President George W. Bush.