Pressure on Trump as critics say peace deal just buys Iran time to build nuke

Donald Trump’s much‑vaunted “peace deal” with Iran was under pressure today as senior American military chiefs, and intelligence veterans warned it risks bankrolling a murderous regime while doing little to stop nuclear escalation or the mass execution of Iranian citizens.

The agreement, expected to be signed on Friday in Switzerland, has been trumpeted by Trump and Vice President JD Vance as a diplomatic breakthrough that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz, lift the US blockade of Iranian ports and launch 60 days of nuclear negotiations. But behind the scenes, Washington is already split over what the deal actually contains — and whether it gives away far too much.

Senior US officials mooted releasing frozen Iranian funds and even creating a $300 billion reconstruction programme if Tehran meets certain conditions. Trump insisted at the G7 summit in the French Alps that America would not “invest” in Iran, but his own team has admitted that sanctions relief and oil‑sale waivers are baked into the framework.

Critics say that amounts to a colossal reward for a regime that has spent decades executing dissidents, sponsoring terrorism and destabilising the Middle East. They warn Tehran’s clerical rulers — who have survived every crisis since 1979 through violence and deception — will pocket the cash, stall the talks and continue their nuclear programme in secret.

A blistering new statement from more than 30 heavyweight American political, military and intelligence figures has intensified the backlash. The signatories include former FBI Director Louis Freeh, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, ex‑Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, nephew of JFK Patrick Kennedy, and retired US Marine Corps commandants and senior CIA veterans.

They declare their solidarity with “millions of Iranians who seek an end to the nightmare of repression, economic deprivation, and lies imposed by morally corrupt clerics since the 1979 revolution.” They accuse the regime of “unrelenting terrorism, executions, hostage‑takings, cyber‑attacks, threats of assassination, and support of armed militias,” and warn that Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme “is an unacceptable threat and must end.”

The group also blasts successive US administrations for refusing to engage with Iran’s democratic opposition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), led by Maryam Rajavi. Tehran’s 50 year dictatorship has always feared the NCRI’s vocal demands for an end to tyranny and demand the US must boycott talks with the NCRI as a precondition for any nuclear talks.

Rajavi, who has campaigned for a secular, democratic, non‑nuclear republic, took a more positive approach and said she welcomed any effort to end the war and the suffering of the Iranian people but warned the regime would never abandon its nuclear ambitions or regional meddling.

She said: “The effort to produce nuclear weapons, warmongering, and meddling in the countries of the region are part of the survival strategy of the religious fascism ruling Iran. War is this regime’s shield against popular uprisings.”

Her organisation has exposed multiple secret Iranian nuclear sites over the past three decades.

Security officials in London share those fears. The Ministry of Defence has warned that Iran’s nuclear threat is “far from over,” that Hormuz remains unstable, and that there is “no sign whatsoever” of political reform in Tehran. Officials say the Revolutionary Guard has used the conflict to tighten its grip and accelerate repression.

Robert Wilkie, Trump’s former secretary of veterans affairs, said Iran is simply playing for time. “This is a regime very practiced with extending negotiations, adding new demands at the last minute, pulling back at the last minute,” he told the BBC. He pointed to intelligence showing Iran collapsing tunnels around nuclear sites and booby‑trapping entrances — a clear sign, he said, that inspectors will never be allowed in.

Human rights groups warn the biggest victims of the deal are the Iranian people. The NCRI says the regime is using the distraction of diplomacy to accelerate the execution of political prisoners, with hangings taking place weekly. Iran already has the world’s highest per‑capita execution rate, with some years exceeding 2,000 state‑sanctioned killings.

The January 2026 uprising — in which as many as 40,000 protesters were killed — has been followed by the largest wave of political executions since the 1988 massacre.

Anger spilled onto the streets outside Iran’s World Cup match in Los Angeles on Monday, where protesters waved the pre‑revolution flag and held pictures of executed activists. A huge rally in Paris on Saturday is expected to draw more than 100,000 people, including survivors of the 1988 killings, relatives of those murdered in January and families of current political prisoners as well as many of the American dignitaries who signed the statement.

As the world waits for Friday’s signing ceremony, critics warn the deal may not bring peace at all — but instead hand Tehran the money and time it needs to tighten its grip and push its nuclear ambitions even further.