Kerry: 'We've earned the right' to Iran deal 'without interference' from Congress
By Sarah Westwood | April 12, 2015 | 11:42 am
Secretary of State John Kerry described the nuclear agreement with Iran as a "global mandate" that Congress only "assisted" in creating.
"This is a global mandate issued by the United Nations," Kerry said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation." "Congress assisted by passing sanctions."
Kerry noted "the whole purpose of the sanctions was to have a negotiation," which yielded the framework for a long-term agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons last month.
"It's also important to note that we have two and half more months to negotiate," he said. "This is not finalized."
Kerry said the State Department didn't want the Iran talks to fall prey to partisan bickering in Washington.
"We've earned the right to try to complete this without interference, and certainly without partisan politics," Kerry said.
Congressional ire over their exclusion from the nuclear deal thus far was on display Thursday when Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called Kerry "delusional" about Iran's commitment to the agreement he laid out.
"I keep an open mind as to who's telling the truth," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Sunday of the negotiations with Iran.
"It's making it very difficult to get even to the specifics if I'm having trouble getting beyond whether Iran is being sincere," said Paul, who is a GOP candidate for president.
Foreign leaders from Iran, the U.S., Russia, China, France, England and Germany are still hammering out the details of a decade-long deal that would dramatically reduce Iran's ability to develop a nuclear bomb.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/kerry-weve-earned-the-right-to-iran-deal-without-interference-from-congress/article/2562895
