At the end of an exchange between Sen. Tom Cotton and Gen. Martin Dempsey regarding the number of American servicemen killed by the Iranians, Cotton asks if Quds Force chief Qassem Suleimani was responsible for the explosively formed penetrators that took the lives of several hundred Americans. Yes, answers Dempsey. Then why, Cotton asks the secretary of state, is Suleimani being taken off the sanctions list. “Under the United States’ initiative,” says Kerry, “Qassem Suleimani will never be relieved of any sanctions.”

Kerry’s phrasing here is awkward—what does he mean by “initiative”? Suleimani is still on the U.S. list for non-nuclear related sanctions. But the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action removes the Quds Force commander from the U.N. list for nuclear-related sanctions. This seems to be the third time, even after the State Department set the record straight two weeks ago, that Kerry has insisted that Suleimani is still under sanctions.