Graham slams Iran's 'side deal' with inspection agency

Ottumwa, Iowa — White House hopefuls continue to make appearances across the Heartland, and Sen. Lindsey Graham was the latest to visit with an afternoon stop in Ottumwa.

The GOP candidate from South Carolina spoke to a full house with a single focus in his message: "No nukes for Iran."

The senator said he is running for president because having a sound foreign policy is crucial for America to thrive.

The Associated Press is reporting that the International Atomic Energy Association and Iran have struck a side deal allowing Iran to inspect their own nuclear facilities.

Graham says if the report is true, it makes a bad deal even worse.

As the chairman of the foreign operations subcommittee, he proposed taking action.

“I’m not going to give any money to this organization until we look at this deal. In the past, they've shared agreements with Congress. The idea that Congress cannot look at this deal between the IAEA and Iran about what they've done on their military facilities is to me, an affront to the Congress,” Graham said.

Graham said he believes this is the most important foreign policy decision Congress will have made in years.

He said Donald Trump's headline-grabbing statements are distracting the public from foreign policy issues that matter.

"It's being pushed aside because we talk about Donald Trump endlessly. I wanted to come here to talk about this deal and how important it is for America and our friends in Israel," Graham said. "It's disappointing. We can't have a discussion about serious foreign policy matters."