Secretary of State John Kerry intensified efforts on Tuesday to beat back criticism of the Iran nuclear deal and convince U.S. lawmakers that rejecting it would give Tehran a fast track to a weapon and unlock billions of dollars from collapsed sanctions.
Battle-hardened from years of negotiations with Iranians, Kerry sharpened his response to U.S. congressional criticism that the deal's provisions were temporary and would not prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon in the long run.
"Iran has agreed to refrain from producing or acquiring highly enriched uranium and weapons-grade plutonium for nuclear weapons forever," he told the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.