Hillary Clinton Set to Address 'Skeptics’ of Iran Deal as Trump Rallies Against It

Clinton will lay out her strategy on Iran during foreign policy speech today.

ByABC News
September 9, 2015, 6:05 AM

— -- Hillary Clinton told ABC News’ David Muir that the Iran nuclear agreement is the “best deal” the United States could reach, given the circumstances, and that she will be “addressing the skeptics” of it during her speech on Iran Wednesday.

Clinton is set to deliver remarks on Iran and its nuclear program later this morning in Washington, D.C. hours before Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, along with former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, will take to the Capitol for a rally to protest the White House-backed deal.

During her remarks, Clinton will vow to enforce the agreement vigorously and will propose a five-point strategy for dealing with Iran in the future, according to a senior Clinton campaign official who released a preview of Clinton’s speech to ABC News.

Clinton will say that she supports the deal "as part of a larger strategy" toward Iran.

"By now, the outcome of the deal in Congress is no longer in much doubt, so we’ve got to start looking ahead to what comes next: enforcing it, deterring Iran and its proxies, and strengthening our allies,” the Democratic presidential candidate will say during her remarks at the Brookings Institute. “It’s not enough to just say yes to this deal. We have to say 'Yes – and.’ Yes, and we will enforce it with vigor and vigilance. Yes, and we will embed it in a broader strategy to confront Iran’s bad behavior in the region.”

In an interview with Muir on Tuesday, Clinton acknowledged that skeptics of the deal do “make some good points” but reiterated her belief that ultimately it is in the "best interest” of the United States and our allies, including Israel, to support it.

"I don’t reject their concerns out of hand. I think they are totally legitimate,” Clinton told Muir. "The real bottom line is, what’s our better alternative?”

"I know how hard this is to get the world together to stand up to anybody, let alone Iran,” Clinton, the former Secretary of State, explained. "We did that. We got them to the negotiating table. Now, of course, if the United States walks away, the rest of the world is going to think, ‘Wait a minute. We got the best deal we could’ And given the constraints, I think that is the case.”

Clinton also told Muir that she will address specific concerns, such as Democratic New York Senator Chuck Schumer's concern over the 24-hour delay before inspections, during her remarks today. Schumer, a friend and longtime Clinton ally, has opposed the deal.

Meanwhile, Trump and Cruz are planning to protest the deal in Washington, D.C. Both candidates will be attending the Tea Party Patriots' "Stop the Iran Deal Rally" this afternoon, along with Sarah Palin, conservative radio host Glenn Beck, and other members of Congress.

Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, told Fox News on Tuesday that the agreement is a "disgrace" and that he will renegotiate it as president.