Foreign Policy

Republican Hawks Don't Want an Iran Deal—and Opportunist Democrats Are Helping Them Along

Bipartisan pressure is keeping the war alive.

Matthew Petti | 6.3.2026 3:15 PM

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(Illustration: Adani Samat/Midjourney)

Democrats criticized President Donald Trump for starting a war with Iran. Now some of them are criticizing him for trying to end it. "This [Iranian] regime is getting money to rebuild, purchase more drones, cause more havoc" through the ceasefire and proposed peace deal, Sen. Cory Booker (D–N.J.) told Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a Tuesday congressional hearing. And Sen. John Fetterman (D–Pa.) accused Trump of trying to "cave [to Iran] just for political convenience" in an interview with the Jewish Insider published on Wednesday.

These Democrats have become unlikely allies to Republican hawks who want the war to resume. When news of a potential deal emerged on May 24, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Trump of following in the footsteps of the Obama administration and demanded that Trump "take out enough Iranian capability so it cannot threaten our allies in........

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