Rep. Rich McCormick Calls U.S.-Iran Deal a “Hollow” Arrangement, Demands Regime Change

Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., a Marine and Navy veteran who deployed to the Persian Gulf and serves on the House Armed Services Committee, condemned the new U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding as a hollow arrangement that grants Tehran critical time to rebuild its military capabilities. During an interview on Thursday, he stated his preference for unconditional surrender and a methodical campaign targeting the regime’s energy infrastructure.

“This is not a good-faith agreement by any sort,” McCormick said. “They see us as the great Satan. They want to destroy us. They’ve told us this openly. They planned for that openly. They know they can lie to us.”

The framework, signed by President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on June 17, pauses hostilities for 60 days, calls for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and defers core nuclear questions to follow-on talks. McCormick asserted Iran has openly signaled it will use the pause to reconstitute its ballistic missile program—degraded by U.S. and Israeli strikes during Operation Epic Fury. “They’re going to repursue their ballistic missile systems, rebuild everything we destroyed,” he said.

U.S. intelligence assessments indicate Tehran is actively digging out buried launchers and accelerating missile capabilities during the ceasefire. McCormick sharply criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verification process, noting: “The IAEA was created in 1957 to stop nuclear proliferation. They failed inspections in Iran, Iraq, and they tricked us.” IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi stated this week that inspections of damaged Iranian sites will occur under the memorandum, though Tehran claims no new access has been granted.

Comparing the current situation to pre-2003 Iraq, McCormick warned: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure rhymes.” Saddam Hussein “didn’t have nuclear arms” but pretended otherwise to deter Iran and was repeatedly warned before the U.S. lost patience. “Imagine this regime—far more powerful, far more alarmingly armed,” he added. “We obviously can’t let them have nuclear arms.”

When asked what action would follow, McCormick described a punishing campaign against civilian infrastructure as essential for regime change: “This is going to sound harsh—but in order to save a million lives in Japan, we dropped bombs that killed 100,000 civilians in one night.”