Kerry defends Iran deal
Sec. of state asserts agreement is best of options available
WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials began efforts Sunday to sell the interim agreement with Iran as key members of Congress signaled skepticism but a willingness to allow the deal to proceed.
Amid denunciations of what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a “bad deal,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry argued that t he agreement would improve Israel’s security because extensive new inspections would give the United States and its allies far more information than before on Iran’s activities.
The six-month preliminary deal would pause Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and roll back some elements of it in return for the easing of some economic sanctions.
“None of this is based on trust. It’s not a question of trust. It’s a question of having the verification and the intrusive inspections,” Kerry said on CNN, one of several television appearances as he made the rounds of Sunday morning interview programs.
Critics should compare the plan with the available alternatives, not with a hypothetical ideal outcome, Kerry added.
“This negotiation is not the art of fantasy or the art of the ideal. It’s the art of the possible,” Kerry said in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “If you didn’t do what we’re doing, they would be marching forward” with the nuclear program and “moving closer to a weapon.”
Inside
NEWS PG 6
President Barack Obama and Kerry hope to dissuade Congress from imposing any new sanctions on Iran while the next round of negotiations proceeds. New sanctions could cause the Iranians to withdraw from talks, officials have warned.
Despite attacks on the deal from Israelis and some conservative groups in the United States, initial reaction from Capitol Hill indicated the administration may achieve that goal, at least for now.
The administration expects opposition from many Republicans and can count on the support of most Democrats. One key group being lobbied by both sides are Jewish Democrats and those with large numbers of Jewish constituents, who may be torn between a desire to back Obama and long-standing support for Israel.
White House officials held a 45-minute conference call with a group of Jewish members of Congress on Sunday, emphasizing the potential benefits of the deal.
“It’s tough for all of us who are strongly pro-Israel to be at odds with the views of our Israeli allies,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., one of those who took part in the call. He suggested Congress would approve sanctions that would take effect if negotiations for a permanent deal fail.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., issued a statement also suggesting that Congress would pass additional sanctions on a standby basis.
Among Republicans, some, including Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who is running for the Senate, compared the deal to Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Adolf Hitler at Munich in the runup to World War II.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair- man Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., called for toughening sanctions. “We just feel more pressure needs to be brought on Iran rather than make this deal and take the pressure off of Iran,” Royce said in an interview on Fox News.
But Speaker John Boehner issued a notably mild statement that expressed doubts about the deal but did not propose any immediate steps to try to undo it.
“The interim deal has been and will continue to be met with healthy skepticism and hard questions,” Boehner, R-Ohio, said. “Iran has a history of obfuscation that demands verification of its activities and places the burden on the regime to prove it is upholding its obligations in good faith while a final deal is pursued.”
Boehner stressed the need to “preserve the strong international sanctions regime” until a final deal can be negotiated. But his statement said nothing about imposing new sanctions on Iran immediately.
Some Democrats offered more throated praise.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Carl Levin, D-Mich., the head of the Armed Services Committee, both of who have long records of supporting Israel, lauded the deal.
Levin called it “a realistic, practical way to freeze Iran’s nuclear program for six months while we seek a long-range diplomatic end to Iran’s nuclear weapon ambition.”
Feinstein called the agreement “a giant step forward.”
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said: “It is a choice between a pause or imminent war. I choose a verifiable pause.”
full-