'In a nutshell…they got played': Melanie Stansbury slams diplomatic failures in Iran deal

President Donald Trump's decision to sign a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Iranian government has relieved immense pressure from global markets, bringing down gas prices substantially. However, at home, lawmakers have amped up their criticism of the President, with many calling the agreement a diplomatic defeat for the United States. Democratic Representative Melanie Stansbury joined this chorus, stating that the Trump administration "got played." 

Sharing a CNN article on the official agreement with Iran, Stansbury opined that the MoU helped "embolden the regime they claimed they were going to take out." "So…Basically they took the U.S. to war, got thousands of civilians killed, spent billions of taxpayer dollars, got U.S. service members killed and injured, our bases destroyed—and ended up agreeing to terms that embolden the regime they claimed they were going to take out, allowing Iran to maintain its nuclear program, and weakening U.S. military and diplomatic standing," she wrote, "In a nutshell…they got played. And American service members and thousands of civilians paid the price."

Stansbury isn't the only Democrat calling the U.S-Iran MoU a diplomatic defeat for President Trump. Earlier, before the details of the deal were made public, Senator Amy Klobuchar questioned the proposal of a $300 billion fund for Tehran, saying that such a deal wasn't "America First. Not even close." "With $300 billion, we could end homelessness, fund cancer research for 40 years, and give every child free pre-K for over 7 years. Instead, Trump is sending it to Iran. This is not America First. Not even close," she wrote on X. 

Democrats aren't the only ones questioning the fund allocation for Iran's reconstruction. Former Republican Congressman, Adam Kinzinger, called the MoU "nothing short of a surrender," labeling Trump's military operation an "Epic Failure." "The MOU with Iran is nothing short of a complete surrender. Regardless of whether you support the war or not, there is no reason to have given Iran everything it wanted, to get NOTHING but 60 more days to talk," Kinzinger wrote on X, reacting to the deal. 

Under the 14-point MoU signed on Wednesday, the U.S. and Iran committed to an "immediate and permanent end to military operations on all fronts," including in Lebanon and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial shipping lane for oil and natural gas, which had been partially shut since the war started in late February. Tehran also agreed not to "procure or develop nuclear weapons," while Washington pledged to "develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan" to provide $300 billion in funds for the reconstruction and development of Iran, a concession that is highly unpopular amongst Americans.