Kerry: Some Iran money will fund terrorism

The United States stands by its new ballistic missile-related sanctions on Iran, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday after Tehran described the decision as “bizarre”.

Whether the new state of affairs in Iran and its ties with the outside world will survive the test of time is an open question; it depends, to the largest extent, on whether the seemingly enlightened, political leadership in Tehran has truly relinquished its nuclear ambitions and is able to consolidate its grip on power in the country, and move it in the right direction.

Iran will receive about $55 billion after debts following the nuclear agreement, Kerry said in an interview with CNBC.

Mishra says Canada also wants to ensure that the lifting of any sanctions does not lead to an illicit trade in nuclear and ballistic missile technology by Iran.

Yet Republicans who have attacked the Obama administration on Iran and issued dire warnings about the repercussions of the nuclear deal used the opportunity to criticize its chief negotiator for stating what they have said for months.

Asked about conservative voices within Iran, Zarif said: “Iran is not a monolith, I think Americans would recognize that… just like the United States is not”. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force “is the regime’s primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists overseas”, according to a 2014 State Department report on state sponsors of terrorism.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has repeated Tehran’s criticism of fresh US sanctions over Iran’s ballistic missile program, calling the sanctions “illegal” and justifying Tehran’s recent missile tests as “self defense”. Washington, he said, suffers from an “addiction to pressure, addiction to coercion, addiction to sanctions”.

Despite lingering tensions between Iran and the United States, he said, “the United States can take steps to overcome this mistrust”, such as through implementation of the nuclear agreement. The recent release of Americans held captive in Iran was relatively absent from the hearing, with only passing references and an unanswered question from Sen. “But I think it’s a very bad agreement”.

“If we catch them funding terrorism, they’re going to have a problem in the US Congress and other people, obviously”, he said. As for the perception the United States is pulling back as the region’s preeminent power, Katulis told the committee the US leadership capability far outstrips that of any other country in the region and that traditional powers like Russian Federation “punched far its weight” in the area.

“I’m just trying to be honest”.

He didn’t specify, but the USA has been a big military supporter of Israel and Iranian rivals Saudi Arabia and Iraq. “It’s so disproportionate that working with our Gulf state partners, which we are going to do, and which we are upgrading, we have the ability that they are secure, that we will stand by them, even as we look for this potential of a shift in behavior”. “I mean, really? It’s been so obvious all along”, she said.