MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA Secretary of State John Kerry blasted critics of the Iran nuclear deal Thursday in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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“From my perspective, Mr. Secretary, I’m sorry, but it’s not unlike a hotel guest who leaves only with a hotel bathrobe on his back”.
Kerry hit back, noting it was “fantasy, plain and simple” to believe the U.S. could hold out for a stronger deal against the Iranians.
Sanctions alone can not be expected to halt the danger of Iran developing nuclear weapons, Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which he once chaired. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, Kerry said that if the nuclear deal is implemented and Iran violates it, the U.S. would have more justification to exercise a military option. Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew sought to dispel concerns and misinformation about the agreement during their testimony before the committee, which lasted more than four hours. Iran, he said, had gone from being “a rogue nation that had a boot on its neck” with crippling worldwide sanctions, to a country that would reap a windfall from sanctions relief and be allowed to develop an “industrial” strength nuclear program. According to them, the deal is the only “durable and viable” way to achieve it.
Senator Marco Rubio faulted President Barack Obama for striking a “terrible deal”, saying it rewarded Iran for “its atrocious human rights record”.
“We have leverage, but in nine months, they’ll have their cash and all the sanctions will be relieved”. During the hearing, Sen.
SEN. JAMES RISCH (R), Idaho: With all due respect, you guys have been bamboozled and the American people are going to pay for that. An override of the veto requires two-thirds approval in both the House and Senate.
“I don’t think any president would do that”, Kerry responded.
Iran, Kerry recalled, also was building a heavy water reactor at Arak that could produce one-to-two bombs worth of weapons-grade plutonium per year after it became operational. Dick Durbin of Illinois who announced his support earlier in the week – came out of the classified briefings saying they were still deciding whether to support the agreement, which Congress has 60 days to review.
Kerry told reporters before the House meeting that the deal “will make the region, our friends and allies, safer”.
Some restrictions will be placed on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the removal of sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Republicans and Democrats critical of the accord probably have enough votes for a resolution to reject the deal, which Obama has said he would veto.
“I know there has been a suggestion by some Republicans that there” was a side deal, Earnest said.
Rubio, a Republican presidential candidate, said: “This is a deal whose survival is not guaranteed beyond the current term of the president”.
Far from blocking Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons, Corker noted, the accord would enable Iran to expand its nuclear enrichment capabilities after the first decade.
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“I recently saw in the Washington Post and ABC they found that 64 percent of the people said they were not confident the deal would halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions”.
