Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has backed Washington's agreement with Tehran, advocating for President Donald Trump's diplomatic efforts to end the war in Iran following the release of the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Rand Paul Denounces 'Regime Change Wars'

In a post on X on Wednesday, Paul backed Trump's deal. "I've spent my career warning against regime change wars, nation-building, and endless military entanglements," he said.

Paul added that the people attacking Trump over the Iran deal were the "architects of every failed intervention" of his lifetime. "This war must end. I stand with President Trump on peace," he said.

Rand Paul Says Agreement Will Help Open Strait Of Hormuz

Sharing a clip of an interview on X, Paul said that "diplomacy ends wars" and that he was supporting Trump's efforts for a "lasting peace." In the clip, Paul hailed the negotiations, claiming that the U.S. won militarily against Iran, but advocated for negotiations to end the war.

Paul said that the "first order of business" following the deal would be to "open up the oil trade that flows through the Strait of Hormuz."

The Kentucky Senator added that the deal would also lead to the U.S. lifting its naval blockade of the Strait and the Iranians will "stop mining" the waterway.

Paul also expressed hope that the next step of the Iran deal would be to remove Tehran's stockpile of enriched Uranium. "I think a good deal would be removing that from the country," he said, adding that the deal would remove "trade sanctions" on Iran.

Iran War Criticism

The deal with Iran has sparked bipartisan criticism of Trump, with GOP leaders like Former Vice President Mike Pence, who said the reported memorandum did not mention dismantling Iran's nuclear or ballistic missile programs, as well as "NO commitment" to ending support for Hamas or Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) called the deal a "thorough capitulation," decrying Iran's "sanctions relief," as well as the Trump administration's "release of frozen funds" for Iran.

Oil, Gas Prices

Following the agreement with Iran, oil prices have fallen to below $80/bbl. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $74.84/bbl at the time of writing this article, while Brent crude also declined 2.24% to $77.77 at press time.

Meanwhile, gas prices have also fallen in the U.S. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA) data, the average price of gas was $4.0250/gallon on Wednesday. However, states like California, Hawaii and Washington are still paying well over $5/gallon for gas at the pump.