UK Foreign Secretary William Hague—who was leader of the Conservative Party from 1997 to 2001—made a statement in the House of Commons that suggests how realist Republicans in the U.S. might look at the Iran deal. He said in part:

Mr Speaker, reaching this interim agreement was a difficult and painstaking process, and there is a huge amount of work to be done to implement it. Implementation will begin following technical discussions with Iran and the IAEA and EU preparations to suspend the relevant sanctions, which we hope will all be concluded by the end of January. A Joint Commission of the E3+3 and Iran will be established to monitor the implementation of these first-step measures, and it will work with the IAEA to resolve outstanding issues.

But the fact that we have achieved for the first time in nearly a decade an agreement that halts and rolls back Iran’s nuclear program, should give us heart that this work can be done and that a comprehensive agreement can be attained.

On an issue of such complexity, and given the fact that to make any diplomatic agreement worthwhile to both sides it has to involve compromises, such an agreement is bound to have its critics and opponents.

But we are right to test to the full Iran’s readiness to act in good faith, to work with the rest of the international community and to enter into international agreements.

If they do not abide by their commitments they will bear a heavy responsibility, but if we did not take the opportunity to attempt such an agreement then we ourselves would be guilty of a grave error.

It is true that if we did not have this agreement the pressure of sanctions on Iran would not be alleviated at all. But it is also true that there would be no restraint on advances to their program: no check on their enrichment activity and stockpiles, no block on their addition of centrifuges, no barrier to prevent them bringing into operation their Heavy Water Reactor at Arak, and no limitation on the many actions which could take them closer to a nuclear weapons’ capability.

The bringing together of this agreement with all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council united behind it, in itself sends a powerful signal.

So while it is only a beginning, there is no doubt that this is an important, necessary and completely justified step, which through its restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program gives us the time to negotiate a comprehensive settlement.

The Prospect has a full transcript here. Predictably, as Daniel Larison notes, this sober statement has led neocons “to denounce Hague as an appeaser.”