Kerry Accuses Iran Critics of Hysteria

YERUSHALAYIM (Hamodia Staff) —
Secretary of State John Kerry looks out from Impala Observation Point at the Nairobi National Park, on Sunday in Nairobi, Kenya. Kerry is visiting Sri Lanka, Kenya and Djibouti on his trip. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
Secretary of State John Kerry looks out from Impala Observation Point at the Nairobi National Park, on Sunday in Nairobi, Kenya. Kerry is visiting Sri Lanka, Kenya and Djibouti on his trip. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)

Secretary of State John Kerry has dismissed critics of the emerging Iran nuclear deal as driven by “hysteria” and promised that the inspections regime to keep it from building a bomb will stay in place “forever.”

In a rare interview with Israeli media over the weekend, Kerry said:

“We will not sign a deal that does not close off Iran’s pathways to a bomb and that doesn’t give us the confidence — to all of our experts, in fact to global experts — that we will be able to know what Iran is doing and prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon.”

“I believe that where we are heading will in fact protect Israel,” Kerry said. “President Obama has absolutely pledged they will not get a nuclear weapon… We will have inspectors in there every single day. That is not a 10-year deal. That’s forever.”

Kerry’s statement directly contradicts reports on the negotiations which have said that the restrictions on the Iranian program would expire in ten years.

In an unrelenting campaign for a tougher stance on Iran that has rankled the Obama administration, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has called the West “comatose” and “delusional,” and charged that the current deal would be “paving the way” to an Iranian nuclear arsenal.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu was reported on Sunday evening to have asked the Secretary to postpone a visit to Israel until after the new government is formed.

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