Republican leaders and presidential contenders reacted to what Barack Obama called a “historic agreement” with Iran over its nuclear program by alternately denouncing the deal and jostling to have a say in it.

John Boehner, the House speaker, called the deal “an alarming departure from the White House’s initial goals” and insisted that Congress “be allowed to fully review the details of any agreement before any sanctions are lifted”.

The co-leader of congressional Republicans also reiterated his belief that Iran could not be trusted. “It would be naive to suggest the Iranian regime will not continue to use its nuclear program, and any economic relief, to further destabilize the region,” Boehner said in a statement.

Boehner recently returned from a visit to Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who convened security officials on Friday after calling Obama to tell him a deal would “threaten Israel’s existence”.



Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the foreign relations committee, said he would press forward on a bill that would give Congress power to alter the deal.

“If a final agreement is reached, the American people, through their elected representatives, must have the opportunity to weigh in to ensure the deal truly can eliminate the threat of Iran’s nuclear program and hold the regime accountable,” he said in a statement.

Corker’s committee will prepare the bill for a vote on 14 April, giving Congress ample time to pass it before the 30 June deadline for a final deal with Iran. Obama has threatened to veto such legislation should it reach his desk.

Boehner, Corker and Senate veterans such as Lindsey Graham received the deal cautiously, neither condemning it nor accepting it. Instead they demanded to know more details.

“The impacts of a bad deal with Iran are unimaginable to our own national security, the region as a whole, and our allies,” Graham said in a statement. “We simply cannot take President Obama’s word that it is this or war.”

Other Republicans, including several de facto presidential candidates, were less circumspect.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who has raised millions of dollars in his nascent but as-yet-unofficial presidential campaign, denounced the deal.

“These negotiations began, by President Obama’s own admission, as an effort to deny Iran nuclear capabilities, but instead will only legitimize those activities,” Bush said. “I cannot stand behind such a flawed agreement.”



Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, also on the fundraising trail, wrote on Twitter: “Obama’s dangerous deal with Iran rewards an enemy, undermines our allies and threatens our safety.”

Obama’s dangerous deal with Iran rewards an enemy, undermines our allies and threatens our safety http://t.co/34UjH4CXfq - SKW — Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) April 2, 2015

Senator Marco Rubio called the deal “very troubling” and said the White House had failed to curb Iran in the Middle East. “This attempt to spin diplomatic failure as a success is just the latest example of this administration’s farcical approach to Iran,” he said.

Texas senator Ted Cruz, the only official candidate in the race, demanded the president let Congress put its fingerprints on a deal.

“The very first step for any deal, good or bad, should be submitting it to Congress, and the president making the case both to Congress and to the American people why this advances the national security interests of the United States,” he said.

Freshman senator Tom Cotton, the author of a controversial to Iranian leaders that was criticized as an overreach of Republicans’ powers, promised to “work with [his] colleagues in the Senate to protect America from this very dangerous proposal”.

Democrats also took the announcement warily, despite the president’s appeal on Thursday to give diplomacy a chance.

Senate minority leader Harry Reid said “now is the time for thoughtful consideration” and called for all parties to “take a deep breath, examine the details and give this critically important process time to play out”.

Likely presidential candidate and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton expressed tentative optimism but repeated Congress’s refrain about details.

“Getting the rest of the way to a final deal by June won’t be easy, but it is absolutely crucial,” she said. “I know well that the devil is always in the details in this kind of negotiation.”

Bob Menendez, a Senate Democrat who co-sponsored Corker’s bill, called for a say in the deal: “If diplomats can negotiate for two years on this issue, then certainly Congress is entitled to a review period of an agreement that will fundamentally alter our relationship with Iran.”

Also on Thursday, Menendez pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges.