Mike Huckabee stands by comment comparing Iran deal to Holocaust

WASHINGTON, July 27 (UPI) -- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has stood by comments likening President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran to the Holocaust.

"This president's foreign policy is the most feckless in American history," the Republican presidential hopeful told Breitbart News on Saturday. "It is so naive that he would trust the Iranians. By doing so, he will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven."

Huckabee's remarks triggered a round of backlash from fellow candidates, including Hillary Clinton and Republican opponent Jeb Bush.

"The use of that kind of language is just wrong," Bush said. "This is not the way we're going to win elections and that's not how we're going to solve problems."

Speaking to reporters in Ethiopia on Monday, Obama said Huckabee's comments were "just part of a general pattern we've seen that would be considered ridiculous if it weren't so sad."

Huckabee fired back Monday in a statement on his website.

"What's 'ridiculous and sad' is that President Obama does not take Iran's repeated threats seriously," Huckabee said. "For decades, Iranian leaders have pledged to 'destroy,' 'annihilate,' and 'wipe Israel off the map' with a 'big Holocaust.'"

The Obama administration's agreement with Iran would lift longstanding economic sanctions on the country in exchange for limits to its nuclear program.