Kerry says he stands by presentation of Iran nuclear deal

Kerry says he stands by presentation of Iran nuclear deal

• US Secretary of State John Kerry File Photo

US Secretary of State John Kerry defended on Sunday his presentation of a framework agreement on Iran’s nuclear program after a different interpretation was offered by Iran’s supreme leader, and a prominent US senator said Kerry was “delusional.”

“I will stand by every fact that I have said,” Kerry told ABC’s This Week. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had strong words last week about Iran’s agreement with major world powers, declaring that once a final deal was reached it should result in an immediate end to all sanctions on Iran.

Kerry has said the sanctions would be suspended in phases. “You know, they’re going to put their spin on their point of view and obviously they’ll allege that we’re putting a spin on our point of view,” Kerry said of the Iranian comments. There were also differing US and Iranian interpretations of a previous interim agreement with Iran, but Iran upheld that agreement, Kerry said.

Iran and major world powers – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – reached a framework nuclear agreement on April 2 that would curb Iran’s nuclear program and prevent it from being able to develop a bomb, in exchange for the West lifting economic sanctions.

Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Kerry noted that President Barack Obama on Saturday delivered a public rebuke to Republican Senator John McCain for having called Kerry “delusional” in an interview in which McCain questioned whether Kerry was being forthcoming about the deal.

via NorthEast Calling http://necalling.com/kerry-says-he-stands-by-presentation-of-iran-nuclear-deal-32010