Amid reports that a nuclear deal with Iran may freeze that country’s ability to produce nuclear fuel for only ten years in exchange for sanctions relief, President Obama appeared to soften his words on the Iran negotiations if not his position. Following a meeting with the Amir of Qatar earlier this week, the president characterized the ongoing talks as trying “to reduce the possibility of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon,” and “to verify that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.” These words (“reduce the possibility” and “does not have”, as opposed to “will not acquire”) stand in sharp contrast to the unambiguous statements President Obama had tended to make over the past several years:
Vice President Biden has made perhaps the most unequivocal statement of anyone in the Obama administration on the subject, telling the Saban Forum in December, “We will not let Iran acquire a nuclear weapon. Period. Period. End of discussion. It will not happen on our watch.” But even if Biden himself won two terms in the White House, a ten-year freeze would sunset beyond both his and Barack Obama’s “watch.”
John Kerry was pressed on the issue while testifying before Congress the same day the president made the softer statement, but Kerry insisted, “The president has made clear — I can’t state this more firmly — the policy is Iran will not get a nuclear weapon.” However, any details of the deal, Kerry said, will have to wait. “And anybody running around right now, jumping in to say, ‘Well, we don’t like the deal,’ or this or that, doesn’t know what the deal is. There is no deal yet. And I caution people to wait and see what these negotiations produce.”
