Outgoing US Secretary of State John Kerry defended the Iran nuclear deal on Thursday, stressing that Tehran is no longer technically able to build a nuclear weapon.
Iran denies allegations that it may have sought to develop nuclear arms under the guise of a civilian program, saying all its nuclear activities are totally for peaceful applications. This fact has been confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“The deal had made the world safer, including Israel, a close US ally and critic of the agreement,” Kerry said in remarks reflecting on the achievements of President Barack Obama’s presidency, DPA reported on Friday. US president-elect, Donald Trump, has threatened to upend many of his achievements, including scrapping what Republicans with vested interests call a bad deal. The US and international community had only “very bad choices” of a nuclear-armed Iran or a conflict in the Middle East before the deal, Kerry claimed. “To be clear, to be crystal clear, terminating that agreement now would leave us with those same bad choices,” he said. Kerry noted that Tehran now had just 300 kg of enriched material, down from 12,000 kg, and was limited to 3.67% enrichment constantly tracked by monitors.
