Secretary of State John Kerry said on a Fox News national broadcast the mantra associated with the Iran deal never included a claim of "anytime, anywhere" access to suspected nuclear sites – a seeming conflict with what President Obama himself said during his press conference to announce the deal.
Fox host Chris Wallace asked Kerry and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, who also appeared on the show, to clarify the "anytime, anywhere" inspections that many regarded as the key benefit of the touted deal, but that aren't included in the text of the actual agreement.
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Kerry said: "In arms control, there is no country anywhere on this planet that has anytime, anywhere [inspections access]. We have created a mechanism by which we can go to the United Nations, one country can take this to the Security Council, and we have the ability to snap back all the sanctions, or put any sanction on we want, if they do not give them access. That's never existed previously."
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He then said the "anywhere, anytime" aspect was never part of the deal or discussions.
"We never, ever had a discussion about anytime, anywhere," he said, Mediaite reported. "It's called managed access. It's under the IAEA. And the intelligence community has made it clear to us ... that we would be able to know what they are doing in the intervening time."
Obama, however, did say the deal included "24/7 access" to Tehran's sites.
In July 14 remarks from the White House, Obama said: "Because of this deal, we will, for the first time, be in a position to verify all of these commitments. That means this deal is not built on trust; it is built on verification. Inspectors will have 24/7 access to Iran's key nuclear facilities."
He said a few moments later, Time reported: "Because of this deal, inspectors will also be able to access any suspicious location. Put simply, the organization responsible for the inspections, the IAEA, will have access where necessary, when necessary. That arrangement is permanent."
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