Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a neoconservative think tank in Washington, D.C., joined other prominent GOP figures — including former Trump administration Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — in criticizing President Trump’s potential peace deal with Iran.
[NOTE: FDD has an associated lobbying group, FDD Action, which advocates “for a robust U.S. foreign policy,” including strong ties to Israel.]
As seen below, Dubowitz amplified reporting from Tasnim News, a news agency in Iran associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which reads: “The Status of the Strait of Hormuz Will Not Return to Pre-War Conditions. Reports on the details of the ‘potential’ initial agreement between Iran and the United States indicate that, should this agreement be finalized, the ‘status of the Strait of Hormuz’ will not revert to its pre-war state.”
Iran is mocking the Trump administration.
Tehran is now openly clarifying that this was never about restoring “pre-war status.” It’s about restoring the pre-war number of ships — while keeping full Iranian control, alongside Oman, over the arrangement. https://t.co/YRoIqCqAGa
— Mark Dubowitz (@mdubowitz) May 24, 2026
Dubowitz, who opposed the 2015 Obama administration nuclear agreement with Iran (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) but later said he hoped to save it before President Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, added: “Iran is mocking the Trump administration. Tehran is now openly clarifying that this was never about restoring ‘pre-war status.’ It’s about restoring the pre-war number of ships — while keeping full Iranian control, alongside Oman, over the arrangement.”
Fellow conservative Andy McCarthy, former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and current National Review columnist, amplified Dubowitz’s post.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) also expressed concern about Trump’s “deal” with Iran. Cruz wrote on social media: “President Trump’s decision to strike Iran was the most consequential decision of his second term…If the result of all that is to be an Iranian regime—still run by Islamists who chant ‘death to America’—now receiving billions of dollars, being able to enrich uranium & develop nuclear weapons, and having effective control over the Strait of Hormuz, then that outcome would be a disastrous mistake.”
I am deeply concerned about what we are hearing about an Iran “deal,” being pushed by some voices in the administration.
President Trump’s decision to strike Iran was the most consequential decision of his second term. He was right to do so, and we achieved extraordinary…
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 24, 2026
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) — who said recently he wanted to “get in the middle” of the Iran negotiations — also sounded the alarm, writing: “If a deal is struck to end the Iranian conflict because it is believed that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be protected from Iranian terrorism and Iran still possesses the capability to destroy major Gulf oil infrastructure, then Iran will be perceived as being a dominant force requiring a diplomatic solution.”
[NOTE: Confirming the chief assertion in Dubowitz’s criticism, Tasnim News reported that “despite announcements by some Western media claiming that the status of the Strait of Hormuz will return to pre-war conditions within 30 days, what is outlined in the potential agreement is not a return to the previous status, but rather a return to the possibility of passage for the ‘number of transiting ships’ to the pre-war level within 30 days.”]
