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House committee grills Kerry on Iran deal

By Ed Adamczyk
Secretary of State John Kerry testifies during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the Obama administration's Iran nuclear agreement, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on July 28 2015. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
1 of 5 | Secretary of State John Kerry testifies during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the Obama administration's Iran nuclear agreement, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on July 28 2015. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- An exasperated Secretary of State John Kerry defended the Iran nuclear agreement Tuesday at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

Addressing a committee whose Republican members seem predisposed to reject the deal agreed to by Iran and six world powers last month, in which Iran's nuclear ambitions are curtailed for 10 years in exchange for lifting of economic sanctions, Kerry said, "If we walk away, we walk away alone. Our partners are not going to be with us. Instead they will walk away from the tough multilateral sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table in the first place. And we will have squandered the best chance that we have to solve this problem through peaceful means."

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The European Union, individual countries comprising the EU and the United Nations have already endorsed the deal. Iran's legislature awaits the results of the decision of the U.S. Congress before it votes.

The debate in Washington Tuesday was sometimes confrontational. Ed Royce, R-Calif., the committee chairman, called the deal "a cash bonanza" for Iran and "a boost to its international standing and a lighted path toward nuclear weapons."

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"This deal guts the sanctions web that is putting intense pressure on Iran. Virtually all economic, financial, and energy sanctions disappear. And where does all that money go? To the largest terror network on earth. So when I look at this and I see that Iran's neighbors who know it the best, trust it the least I just as: we are presuming Iran is going to change its behavior."

"No we're not," Kerry responded. "Mr. Chairman with all due respect, please, we are presuming no such thing -- there is one objective here: to prevent [Iran] from getting a nuclear weapon."

Earlier in the hearing, Kerry noted, "They [Iran] have mastered the ability to produce significant stockpiles of fissile material. And you have to have that to make a nuclear weapon. We can't bomb away that knowledge any more than you can sanction it away."

Congress has 60 days, beginning July 20, to vote on the agreement, and President Barack Obama has threatened to veto a rejection of the deal. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has said his congressional caucus will "do everything possible to stop" passage of the agreement.

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Also Tuesday, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini visited Iran, saying in Tehran she was there to begin the "smooth implementation" of the nuclear accord with Iran.

"Implementing in full the agreement is the best possible way of opening up the way of investments and trade relations with Europe. My personal role in facilitating this process [is] making sure the implementation from all sides will be substantial and consistent."

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