Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the loudest backers of the war against Iran, said this week that he is not ready to endorse the deal President Donald Trump struck to end it.

Speaking to reporters after Trump announced Monday that the agreement had been signed, Graham said he wanted to read the text himself, warning that “the way Iran describes it is awful” even if Washington’s version sounds reasonable.

That hesitation captures a real shift.

Many of the conservatives who rallied to Trump when the fighting started in late February now worry he gave up too much at the negotiating table, handing Tehran economic relief that could let the regime rebuild while doing too little to box in its nuclear program.

The friction is mostly about money and enforcement.

Reports that the deal would eventually unlock billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds, and that Gulf states could pour hundreds of billions more into rebuilding Iran, have turned some of Trump’s steadiest allies into skeptics.

To hawks, cash flowing back to Tehran is cash that can be redirected to missiles and proxy fighters once the shooting stops.

A string of Republican senators voiced the same unease this week, and their common complaint was simple: they have not seen the actual document.

Trump said the memorandum was signed electronically over the weekend, but the full text has not been released, with the president saying it would likely be read out Friday.

Senators including John Cornyn, Josh Hawley, John Kennedy, and Chuck Grassley all said they could not judge a deal they had not been allowed to read.

Some of the sharpest critics have been on record for weeks.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker slammed the framework as details leaked last month.

Ted Cruz and conservative commentators such as Hugh Hewitt and Mark Levin have pressed for far stricter terms — no Iranian uranium enrichment, ever, and the removal of Iran’s highly enriched stockpile from the country.

The administration’s answer is that the deal is built to be tested, not trusted.

Officials describe it as performance-based: Iran keeps the benefits only if it holds to its commitments, including no nuclear weapon, surrendering enriched material, and keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.

Vice President JD Vance has framed the promised Gulf investment money as a carrot — leverage to pull Iran toward bigger nuclear concessions in talks still to come.

For all the noise, the hawks have limited power to stop Trump.

As Republican strategist John Ullyot has noted, the Senate has few tools to block a president from winding down an active military operation.

The business backdrop helps explain why Trump is moving to close the war even over his own party’s objections.

The conflict pushed gasoline prices up sharply since late February, squeezing households and businesses alike, and shut a waterway that normally carries a fifth of the world’s oil.

Ending the fighting reopens the Strait of Hormuz, puts Iranian oil back on the market, and points pump prices lower — a tangible economic win heading into a midterm election year.

The frozen-funds issue carries its own economic weight.

The draft reportedly releases roughly $24 billion to Iran over a 60-day negotiating window, with far larger sums tied to a longer-term investment fund.

For markets, the prospect of Iranian crude returning has already pulled oil prices down sharply.

For the deal’s critics, that same money is the problem — relief that arrives before Iran has proven it will keep its word.

The split also signals a deeper realignment inside the Republican coalition between traditional hawks who want maximum pressure on Iran and a growing America First wing wary of open-ended Middle East commitments.

Trump has tried to stand in both camps at once — claiming a tough peace while ending an expensive war — and the deal is testing how long that balance can hold.

What happens next depends on the fine print.

If the text released Friday matches the administration’s confident description, some of the criticism may fade.

If it looks closer to the version Iran is selling, the revolt among Trump’s former cheerleaders is likely to grow louder.

Washington — JBizNews Desk

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