‘Salesman’ Kerry takes on more difficult customers as he fights for Iran deal

John Kerry today continues his mission of selling the nuclear accord with Iran telling his opponents that if they don’t back the deal, Washington will have “squandered the best chance” it has to peacefully solve the problem. The U.S. secretary of state is to speak about the deal on Friday at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City and then meet leaders from the American Jewish Committee and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Some Jewish groups have vehemently opposed the deal, lifting sanctions on Iran, which has pledged to destroy Israel. But Mr Kerry has warned opponents: “If the U.S., after laboriously negotiating this multilateral agreement with five other partners, were to walk away from those partners, we’re on our own. Our partners will not walk away with us.”

We will have squandered the best chance we have to solve this problem through peaceful means.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry

Yesterday, Mr Kerry told skeptical lawmakers that rejection of the accord would give Tehran “a great big green light” to accelerate its atomic program. Testifying to Congress, Kerry fought back against accusations by a senior Republican that he had been “fleeced” by Iranian negotiators in the final round of the Vienna talks. He warned of the consequences of rejecting the deal between Tehran and world powers including the U.S. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, also defended the agreement against conservative opponents who say it endangers Iran’s security.

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