Secretary of State John Kerry delivers a speech in support of the Iran nuclear deal at the National Constitution Center, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- Having secured the votes to protect the Iran nuclear deal in Congress, Secretary of State John Kerry now sees the main threat to the long-term viability of the accord coming from abroad.
In an interview with The Huffington Post on Thursday, Kerry argued that domestic perceptions of the deal -- and by extension its political well-being -- would dramatically improve over time. And not just incrementally. The secretary of state predicted the country “will be 90 percent supportive” of the deal once the next president takes office, making it impossible for him or her to rip it up, as virtually every Republican candidate has promised to do.
“I cannot see a president willfully taking the United Nations, five other nations who supported us in this negotiation and saying, 'Sorry, we're just going to walk away from this and create a more dangerous situation in the Middle East.' I just don't see that happening,” Kerry said, calling it “absurd” that a candidate would pull off such a move.
