WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State John Kerry pitched the administration’s controversial nuclear deal with Iran to 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.
“Iran has cheated on every agreement they’ve signed,” said Rep. Ed Royce, the panel’s chairman. With Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew waiting to testify, he asked if Tehran “has earned the right to be trusted” given its history.
Kerry said that under the deal, Iran is “permanently banned” from developing a nuclear weapon, and many of the restrictions imposed would be in place “not just for 15 or 20 years, but for the lifetime” of its nuclear program.
As a result, he said, the United States will be able to “verifiably ensure” the nuclear program remains peaceful.
The congressional hearing was the second in as many weeks for Kerry and his Cabinet colleagues. With Republicans in the majority in both houses, their objective was to line up enough support for Obama among Democrats in what is all but certain to become a veto fight this fall.