Perry touts record of compromise, but Iran is an exception

BEDFORD, N.H. (AP) — Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry was back in New Hampshire on Thursday touting his ability to compromise. He said Iran is one exception.

Asked at a business breakfast whether he would be able to work with a divided Congress as president, Perry said that his experience working with Democrats as governor would serve him well in Washington.

"Governors don't have the luxury of just having a conversation, giving a speech and walking away," he said. "There was not one big thing that happened in the state of Texas — not tort reform, not education reform, not those big budget issues — that was done with just Republicans."

Asked about the letter Republican senators recently sent to Iran's leadership, Perry said some issues are too important for compromise.

"That's a really bad example of finding a place we can work together, because there are some things so important, we can't compromise our principles," he said.

The letter warned that unless Congress approved it, any nuclear deal Iran cut with President Barack Obama could expire once he leaves office. Perry said he would have signed it, and says Obama is "naively miscalculating the intentions of a brutal regime."

Perry dropped out of the 2012 presidential race soon after finishing sixth in New Hampshire's Republican primary. He has yet to declare his plans for 2016, but since leaving office in January, Perry has been ramping up his political operation and traveling to early voting states. Last week, a handful of his former aides and allies launched a super PAC that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on his behalf.