Kerry warns Congress scrapping Iran deal would mean path to nuclear weapon

Other countries, he says, will wonder if they are negotiating with the Obama administration or some 535 members of Congress acting as secretaries of state.

KERRY: “We’re not asking them to trust but we’re asking them to read the deal and look at the deal and at the components”. He said Obama has chosen to deal with the overriding issue of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.

Engel is a strong supporter of Israel, which vociferously opposes the deal.

Among Republicans, 66 percent said the deal should be rejected, as did 55 percent of independents.

Carter said there is a possibility that the nuclear agreement will move forward, but will not be “successfully implemented”.

At a breakfast with reporters before the hearing, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who also testified, said he believed the White House would gain enough support in Congress to sustain a veto if Congress votes to reject the Iran nuclear deal. Kerry said he was in “direct talks” with Tehran about the detainees.

Live coverage of any event from America has been unheard of in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Kerry pitched the administration’s controversial nuclear deal with Iran before a skeptical House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, pushing back against the allegation it would ease crippling sanctions forever in exchange for temporary concessions on weapons development.

Kerry insisted that walking away from the deal would isolate the United States.

He pledged that the U.S. will continue to push back against Iran for its support of terrorism and human rights violations.

The disclosures come from IAEA member nations and are tasked with following Iran’s nuclear program.

“The fact is that Iran now has extensive experience with nuclear fuel cycle technology”, Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. An inspection regime would also be in place to detect whether any requirements have been violated. And he says he’s upset that Iran will get what he dubbed a “cash bonanza” further emboldening Tehran in the region.

Secretary of State John Kerry, the lead negotiator of the deal, tried to allay the concerns of Republican senators who complained that they are being asked to vote on the Iran nuclear deal without being privy to verification documents being separately negotiated by global nuclear inspectors. Lawmakers have begun a 60-day review of the plan.