John Kerry Defends Nuclear Negotiations with Iran in U.S. Congress

John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, defended the nuclear negotiations with Iran, reiterating that the Obama administration's policy is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. According to reports from Associated Press and Reuters, Mr. Kerry, who appeared in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, March 5, also stated that the U.S. will soon find out whether Iran is willing to reach an acceptable and verifiable agreement. These remarks came a day after bilateral talks between Iran and the U.S. in Geneva, which began last Friday at the level of deputy foreign ministers of both countries and later escalated with the participation of the foreign ministers of Iran and the U.S., as well as Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, and Ernest Moniz, the U.S. Secretary of Energy. After this round of negotiations, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, stated that 'there is agreement on the generalities of the deal, and we need to agree on the details,' while John Kerry also emphasized that 'progress' has been made. However, in his remarks on Tuesday, Mr. Kerry criticized opponents of a potential nuclear agreement, saying that those who claim they do not want this agreement fundamentally do not understand what an agreement means. He added, 'No agreement has been made yet, and I warn you to wait and see what the outcome of these negotiations will be.' Recently, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, again criticized the nuclear negotiations between world powers and Iran, stating that these negotiations will lead to a 'bad and dangerous agreement' for Israel. Mr. Netanyahu is also scheduled to speak in Congress on March 12 at the invitation of John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House, against Iran's nuclear program. Part of Mr. Kerry's remarks on Tuesday also addressed the political crisis in Yemen, where he emphasized that Iran has supported the Houthi rebels during the overthrow of the country's government and has played a 'key' role in this regard. He stated, 'I think [Iran has played a role in the fall of the Yemeni government], and there is no doubt about it, but I do not know whether Iran itself was surprised by what happened or whether it has a desire to form national dialogues.' The Shiite Houthi rebels seized the Yemeni presidential palace on the last day of January, leading to the official collapse of the government two days later following the resignation of the Yemeni president. The Gulf Cooperation Council has labeled the actions of the Houthi rebels as a 'coup' and has called for military intervention by the United Nations in the country.