Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. agreement with Iran over nuclear weapons is the best deal the White House can get with an untrustworthy adversary.
"There is no trust — no no no. This is not based on trust," he told TODAY’s Matt Lauer Friday. "That’s what’s important to understand. Everything in this agreement is verifiable. It is a process by which we will know what they’re doing."
On Thursday, Kerry defended the administration’s nuclear deal with Iran on Capitol Hill.He met with members of the panel he once chaired, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warning lawmakers there was no "unicorn" or "fantasy" deal that could be a better alternative.
On TODAY, Kerry also defended a central provision in the deal that gives Iran 24 days to resolve disputes before inspectors can access suspicious sites.
"This is nuclear material. It radiates...This is not something that you can flush down the toilet. It’s not possible," he said.
Kerry added that the United States does not have a better option.
"The alternative is to have no inspectors, not know what Iran is doing, go back to where they are today with the ability to make the bomb," he said. "And then you're going to hear everybody say, 'Uh oh, we've got to go bomb them now."
Congress has until September 17 to vote on the deal.
More from Kerry:
"There is a lot of politics going on, Matt. The more people learn about this agreement, the more people are learning this is the only viable alternative to be able to control Iran’s already existing nuclear program. People forget, when President Obama came into office and when I became secretary of state, Iran already had in the tens of thousands of centrifuges. They already had fissile material, enough for 10 to 12 bombs. What we’ve done is roll that program back and provide a capacity to have inspectors going forward so we will know what Iran is doing."
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