Tuesday, February 24, 2015
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry today defended the Obama administration's nuclear negotiations with Iran, saying the U.S. policy is to prevent the Iranians from getting atomic weapons.
Kerry told Congress the administration's policy is that "Iran will not get a nuclear weapon." He said opposition to a potential deal is misplaced because it is coming from people who don't know what an agreement might look like.
"The president has made clear — I can't state this more firmly — the policy is Iran will not get a nuclear weapon," Kerry said. "And anybody running around right now, jumping in to say, "Well, we don't like the deal," or this or that, doesn't know what the deal is. There is no deal yet. And I caution people to wait and see what these negotiations produce."
Kerry spoke a day after returning from the latest round of talks with Iran. U.S. and Iranian officials reported progress on getting to a deal that would clamp down on Tehran's nuclear activities for at least 10 years but then slowly ease restrictions. Negotiators are rushing to try to meet a March 31 deadline for a framework agreement.