NBC’s Chuck Todd said Wednesday that American sentiment about the Iran nuclear agreement is tepid because, while Americans want to engage in diplomacy, they do not trust Iran or the Ayatollah to keep his word.
"You haven’t hear anybody say this is a great deal," Todd said on Morning Joe. "’This is a workable deal’ is about the best argument you hear for it."
As the public opinion of the Iran deal suffers, President Obama has maintained that his deal is the only option to prevent war with the largest state sponsor of terrorism. Americans oppose the Iran agreement by a 2-1 margin.
"There is nobody excited about this deal," Todd said.
Critics of the Iran deal point to Iran’s actions causing chaos in the Middle East as an indicator of why the deal is misguided. If Iran complies with the terms of the agreement, sanctions will be lifted giving the regime well over $100 billion of its own money that was previously frozen. Side deals between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran have also raised alarms, especially about the ability to inspect Iran’s nuclear facilities.
"I feel the president should be acknowledging that this isn’t a perfect deal more often," Todd said. "I feel like they oversell the deal sometimes."