Mitt Romney rips Ted Cruz on Twitter for Obama terror comments

Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, criticized Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Thursday for his harsh rhetoric against the Iran nuclear deal.

Cruz, a 2016 presidential candidate, has repeatedly warned in recent days that the agreement would mean President Barack Obama's administration is essentially sponsoring terrorism.

"If this deal goes through, the Obama administration will become the leading financier of terrorism against America in the world," Cruz said in a July 15 Fox News interview, for example.

He added: "I've heard this referred to before as the 'Jihadist Stimulus Bill.'" 

But Romney argued on Twitter that Cruz's comments undermine the opposition to the deal:

Cruz's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. However, the senator doubled down on his charge against the Obama administration on Tuesday, after the president himself criticized Cruz the day before.

The nuclear deal - struck earlier this month among the US, Iran, and other world powers - grants billions of dollars of sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear ambitions. Republican critics like Cruz, who hope to defeat the agreement in Congress, argue that Iran will use the cash windfall to sponsor terror in places like Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.

Cruz will reportedly comment on Romney's criticism later in the day: