The Obama administration on Sunday sent the Iran nuclear deal to the US Congress for review. As it did so, Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz pressed the case for the deal as the best way to deal with Iran's nuclear issue.
"The real fear of that region should be that you don't have the deal," said Kerry on CNN, in one of a series of taped interviews with the pair that ran on the morning political talk shows, according to the Guardian.
Kerry also said, on ABC, that a move to restoring diplomatic relations with Iran in the wake of the deal was "not being contemplated."
Republican presidential candidates also appeared the morning shows. Florida senator Marco Rubio, a strong performer in most polls regarding the 15-strong field, said he would reinstate US sanctions on Iran that will be waived under the present deal.
Rubio called the deal "flawed", and said, "I think the sanctions were forcing Iran to the table and I think we should have actually asked for a lot more. The deal violates promises the president made to the American people on multiple fronts. It is not an 'anytime, anywhere' inspection system, it will require arbitration … Iran can fight and delay things."
Also on CNN, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker repeated his promise to "tear the deal up" on his first day in the White House.
The prime minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu, also appeared on US television to express his opposition.
"I think the right thing to do is merely not to go ahead with this deal," he told CBS.
In his interviews, Kerry answered criticisms of the deal including the question of "anytime, anywhere" inspections.
"I never in four years had discussions about 'anytime, anywhere'," Kerry said on Fox News Sunday. "The fact is that in arms control, there is no country anywhere on this planet that has 'anywhere, anytime'. There is no such standard in arms control."
JCPAO Sent to Congress
Announcing the deal being sent to Congress, a statement from Kerry's department said, "Pursuant to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, today the State Department transmitted to Congress the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, its annexes, and related materials."
The statement added, "Day one of the 60-day review period begins tomorrow, Monday 20 July."
Barack Obama has promised to exercise his presidential veto if Congress rejects the deal. To overcome that veto would require a two-thirds majority of both the House and the Senate. The administration must gain the support of enough Democrats to offset Republican opposition.
On ABC on Sunday, Kerry answered critics who have expressed frustration that the deal will be voted on by the United Nations.
"They have a right to do that," Kerry said. "I mean, honestly, it's presumptuous to suspect that (US negotiating partners) France, Russia, China, Germany and Britain ought to do what the Congress tells them to do. They're individual countries and they have sovereignty. They're members of the United Nations and they have a right to have a vote."
