{"id":661,"date":"2026-06-25T09:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T09:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661"},"modified":"2026-06-25T09:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T09:44:14","slug":"democrats-doubt-iran-diplomacy-but-see-no-alternative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Doubt Iran Diplomacy But See No Alternative"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Democratic lawmakers don\u2019t trust President Donald Trump\u2019s ongoing diplomacy with Iran. They also want the war to be over \u2014 meaning their only real choice is to hope the president can keep peace talks going.<\/p>\n

Read more The Trump Administration Is Considering Even More Reflecting Pool Upgrades<\/a><\/p>\n

Legislators and aides told NOTUS they are not seeing an appetite among Democrats to stymie the negotiations, say by introducing legislation to prevent the U.S. from lifting relief or by pushing to vote down an accord.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we stand in the way of an agreement, we own that too,\u201d one staffer said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal conversations.<\/p>\n

Some Democrats said their ranks are coming to a frustrating conclusion: Trump\u2019s war gave Iran the upper hand, so it\u2019s inevitable the U.S. will need to make significant concessions to avoid resuming the conflict, which voters in general and Democrats particularly oppose<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to put an end to this illegal war now,\u201d Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland told NOTUS on Tuesday. \u201cWhen you\u2019re digging a hole, you should stop digging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Hollen wants Democrats to be clear about the likely outcome of resisting talks with Iran: \u201cThe alternative, unsaid, is to keep the war going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Effectively, the party may prioritize the survival of the ceasefire above all \u2013 criticizing Trump\u2019s approach, but with limits on how far they will go. It\u2019s a stance that could help cement broader shifts among Democrats in Congress that reflect views among their base, like far greater wariness of Israel and a more cautious view of what American pressure against international foes can achieve. On Tuesday, primary elections in New York delivered<\/u><\/span> a slew of victories for Democrats sharply critical of Israel, and aligned with the party\u2019s broadly anti-war left flank.<\/p>\n

After Trump signed his memorandum of understanding with Iran last week, some \u2014 including Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota \u2014 hinted at torpedoing the talks or treating them as inherently flawed.<\/p>\n

Others, including influential<\/u><\/span> House<\/u><\/span> members<\/u><\/span>, cautiously embraced negotiations. A second aide told NOTUS the situation was a \u201croller coaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Duss, the executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and former adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders, said he has seen Democrats adapting their message \u201cto make clear the problem here is not the peace agreement, it was the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, this is a bad agreement that concedes a lot to Iran,\u201d Duss told NOTUS. \u201cThat\u2019s what happens when you lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Democrats have remained united<\/u><\/span> in voting against Trump\u2019s ability to wage the war, with the sole exception of ardently pro-Israel Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

But there are fault lines in how they view the cost of the truce. Wariness of Iran is deep-rooted and could, for some Democrats, present a chance for a bipartisan rebuke of Trump.<\/p>\n

Read more Washington Democrats Dismiss the Rise of the Mamdani Wing<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that we give Iran relief from sanctions now, that we allow them to export their oil, that we front-load the benefits for Iran, including commitments of a $300 billion reconstruction fund, makes no sense at all,\u201d Sen. Adam Schiff of California told NOTUS, referring to aspects of the memorandum and steps by the Trump administration this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe administration needs to hear from both parties that that\u2019s a really terrible deal,\u201d Schiff said.<\/p>\n

Those who want Democrats to back diplomacy hope to discourage attack<\/u><\/span> lines like the false claim Trump is paying billions to Iran that might otherwise benefit Americans, and Democrats bolstering hawkish Republicans like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who has suggested a congressional vote on any possible deal with Iran that could be fatal for an accord.<\/p>\n

They warned against a similar dynamic to the political debate over President Barack Obama\u2019s Iran nuclear deal, which some Democrats called too conciliatory to Tehran.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate, if unsurprising, the same Democrats who opposed the Obama administration\u2019s [deal] are already opposing this effort in favor of a magical \u2018unicorn option\u2019 that doesn\u2019t exist,\u201d a senior Democratic aide told NOTUS \u2013 indicating willingness to challenge such voices.<\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s nuclear deal is sure to come up repeatedly as the Iran diplomacy continues. Some in the party\u2019s national security corps, including in influential think tanks and advocacy groups, want to emphasize that Democrats were able to secure a strong agreement limiting Iran\u2019s nuclear program and allowing for verifications, without lifting all sanctions as Trump has agreed to.<\/p>\n

Things have changed over a decade, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack in 2015, what was not on the table was Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d damaging the global economy, the second aide said.<\/p>\n

Eric Eikenberry, the government relations director at Win Without War, said the Democratic Party needs to stop \u201cclinging in the back of their minds to the idea that ultimately we have decisive military leverage,\u201d as some did in the Obama era.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn evolution the broader party is going to have to make is seeing that diplomacy was always the only option and even if they were entertaining these break-glass options, they were never going to work,\u201d he told NOTUS. \u201cNow we have an experiment: Trump broke the glass and we\u2019re in an even worse position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some involved in the party\u2019s soul-searching hope<\/u><\/span> a decisive shift away from vilifying foreign enemies and reliance on projecting military force is underway \u2013 a move that could clearly differentiate Democrats and appeal to the national mood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe war was an avoidable catastrophe, but \u2026 a result of decades of bipartisan idiocy about Iran,\u201d said Duss. \u201cThis is a moment to really reassess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Americans Tell the Trump Administration to Back Off \u2018The View\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawmakers are unlikely to stand in the way of negotiations, members and aides told NOTUS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign-policy"],"yoast_head":"\nDemocrats Doubt Iran Diplomacy But See No Alternative - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Democrats Doubt Iran Diplomacy But See No Alternative - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lawmakers are unlikely to stand in the way of negotiations, members and aides told NOTUS.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-25T09:44:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Democrats Doubt Iran Diplomacy But See No Alternative\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T09:44:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661\"},\"wordCount\":960,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/91057599be93da9fe25dd936df6e8ac2-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Foreign Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661\",\"name\":\"Democrats Doubt Iran Diplomacy But See No Alternative - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/91057599be93da9fe25dd936df6e8ac2-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T09:44:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/91057599be93da9fe25dd936df6e8ac2-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/91057599be93da9fe25dd936df6e8ac2-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"UNITED STATES - MAY 8: Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., questions Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem about deported Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia during the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Department of Homeland Security hearing to examine the proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, May 8, 2025. (Bill Clark\\\/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=661#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Democrats Doubt Iran Diplomacy But See No Alternative\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Modern Home Journals\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Democrats Doubt Iran Diplomacy But See No Alternative - Modern Home Journals","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Democrats Doubt Iran Diplomacy But See No Alternative - Modern Home Journals","og_description":"Lawmakers are unlikely to stand in the way of negotiations, members and aides told NOTUS.","og_url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661","og_site_name":"Modern Home Journals","article_published_time":"2026-06-25T09:44:14+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"headline":"Democrats Doubt Iran Diplomacy But See No Alternative","datePublished":"2026-06-25T09:44:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661"},"wordCount":960,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/91057599be93da9fe25dd936df6e8ac2-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Foreign Policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661","name":"Democrats Doubt Iran Diplomacy But See No Alternative - Modern Home Journals","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/91057599be93da9fe25dd936df6e8ac2-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-25T09:44:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/91057599be93da9fe25dd936df6e8ac2-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/91057599be93da9fe25dd936df6e8ac2-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"UNITED STATES - MAY 8: Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., questions Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem about deported Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia during the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Department of Homeland Security hearing to examine the proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday, May 8, 2025. (Bill Clark\/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=661#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Democrats Doubt Iran Diplomacy But See No Alternative"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/","name":"Modern Home Journals","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/#\/schema\/person\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/modernhomejournals.com"],"url":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}