Sen. Coons on Iran deal: ‘Built on distrust’

Delaware’s Senator Chris Coons questioned Sec. of State John Kerry about the nuclear deal with Iran during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Thursday.

Coons led off his questions by describing the deal as a marriage built on distrust. “It is a wedding day where the bride is shouting, ‘I hate you and your family,’ and the groom is shouting, ‘I distrust you and you’ve always cheated on me.'” He said because of the mutual mistrust between both sides, “disagreement here seems inevitable,” Coons said.

Kerry replied to Coons questions saying there’s a young generation of Iranians who are thirsty for the world. “They want jobs, they want a future,” Kerry said. “Iran has a huge stake in making sure there isn’t an interruption in that business, and that they are living up to this agreement.” 

Coons said there is agreement that Iran must not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon. “A nuclear-armed Iran would threaten our national security, or vital ally Israel, and the stability of the entire Middle East.” He said he’ll only support the deal “if I’m convinced it sufficiently freezes every Iranian pathway to a nuclear weapon.”

Under the agreement, Iran’s nuclear program will be curbed for a decade in exchange for potentially hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of relief from international sanctions.