‘You’ve been fleeced’ , Congress tells Kerry on Iran nuclear deal

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Secretary of State John Kerry, testifies along with Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, and Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Thursday, July 23, 2015, to review the Iran nuclear agreement. Kerry bluntly challenged critics of the Obama administration's nuclear deal with Iran on Thursday, calling it "fantasy, plain and simple," to think the United States failed to hold out for a better deal at the bargaining table.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Secretary of State John Kerry, testifies along with Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, and Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Thursday, July 23, 2015, to review the Iran nuclear agreement. Kerry bluntly challenged critics of the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran on Thursday, calling it “fantasy, plain and simple,” to think the United States failed to hold out for a better deal at the bargaining table. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday told skeptical lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the recently negotiated accord with Iran is the only chance to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, and that failure to enact the agreement would isolate the United States internationally.

“If the U.S., after laboriously negotiating this multilateral agreement with five other partners, were to walk away from those partners, we’re on our own” Mr. Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A Congressional rejection of the accord, Mr. Kerry said, would amount to “a great big green light for Iran to double the pace of its uranium enrichment, proceed full speed ahead with a heavy water reactor, install new and more efficient centrifuges, and do it all without the unprecedented inspection and transparency measures that we have secured.”

“Everything we have prevented would then start taking place,” he said.

Mr. Kerry’s testimony, along with the testimony of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, came as the Iran deal architects made their first public appearance before lawmakers since the accord was announced last week.

Mr. Kerry entered the hearing room on crutches — he broke his leg in a bike accident in May — to a round of applause from activists from Code Pink, the antiwar group.

While the hearing was supposed to be the beginning of a 60-day review period, it quickly devolved into a contentious partisan spat. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Foreign Relations Committee’s chairman, accused Mr. Kerry of having been “fleeced.” Senator Jim Risch, Republican of Idaho, said he had been “bamboozled.”

Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, jumped to Mr. Kerry’s defense, saying Republicans had been “disrespectful and insulting.” Their accusation, she said to Mr. Kerry, goes to the secretary of state’s “core as a human being and your intelligence, and I think you are very intelligent.”

Under Congressional legislation, the administration submitted the accord to lawmakers for the 60-day review. President Obama has said he will veto any Congressional move to disapprove the accord.

Mr. Corker said that he was “fairly depressed” by the confidential briefing lawmakers received on Wednesday on the terms of the accord, and that administration officials had engaged in “hyperbole” by saying the choice was “between this deal and war.”

Far from blocking Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons, Mr. Corker noted, the accord would enable Iran to expand its nuclear enrichment capabilities after the first decade.

“I believe we have been fleeced,” he said.

Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland, said the agreement was stronger in some respects than the framework accord the negotiators drafted in Lausanne, Switzerland, in April.

“Our negotiators got an awful lot,” he said.

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17 responses to “‘You’ve been fleeced’ , Congress tells Kerry on Iran nuclear deal”

  1. MekensehParty Avatar
    MekensehParty

    Same flashy words from the Republicans.
    Anyway in the next 60 days some juicy contracts are going to land on the desk of House reps and they’ll magically change their minds…
    There’s a lot to gain from 10 years of peace, and plenty of time and resources to bomb if and when necessary.

  2. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    His name is Kerry, not Jason ….

  3. zabada Avatar

    America and Israel have right to have nuclear..but Iran is not…that means America Zionist is working to weaken others to dominate the world..but the world really to big for any nation..including… Zionist force..they will fail.

    1. nagy_michael2 Avatar
      nagy_michael2

      Since when you care about the infidels not having nukes Zabada?

      1. zabada Avatar

        infidel or not we must be fair.

        1. nagy_michael2 Avatar
          nagy_michael2

          you are right and i think for every ISIS who beheaded innocent Christians, Yazdis and shiites we should behead a Sunnis. what do you think of that?

          1. You and the 3 idiots that liked your comment are religious bigots!

          2. nagy_michael2 Avatar
            nagy_michael2

            O are you jealous? what are you mad about Dude? what’s wrong with you..

      2. Adonis Avatar

        genocidal zionist worm mumbles about infidels

  4. nagy_michael2 Avatar
    nagy_michael2

    Poor Kerry is saying what did i get myself into and those mullahs laughed and laughed at me when we signed that deal. well Kerry you and Obama either dumb asses for believing the charming Iranian foreign minister. the iranians are always ahead of the games you have to give them credits for that. they outsmarted the west all together and farting at Israeli..

    1. Caribbean Avatar
      Caribbean

      I’m also against the deal.I think Iran should have hundreds of nuclear warheads to face the bloodthirsty Zionists nukes

    2. Adonis Avatar

      genocidal zionist swine mumbles about laughing mullahs

  5. Business deal….not a deal for peace!

    1. MekensehParty Avatar
      MekensehParty

      Business goes better with peace 😉
      Iran can buy $100 billion of US products and it will be only a dent of what it needs
      And they too are ready for “business”…

  6. Rascal Avatar

    It is better to defuse Iran and do business instead of making war. Hopefully Iran is serious and not playing a sneaky game. Lots of trust building from both sides is needed. Iran can start with removing its weekly “death to Amerika” chants in good faith.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Right … or at least make the occasional ‘apple-pie’ day to compensate.

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