Kerry, Hagel: US Won’t Be ‘Fooled’ Into Iran Deal

Kerry Vows Talks Won't Be Based on Mutual Trust

Aiming to reassure Israel and a hawkish US Congress against the serious prospect of a deal with Iran, Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel are downplaying the talks, while saying they were virtually obliged to explore Iran’s offer of diplomacy.

Hagel sounded a bit more hopeful, insisting that “engagement” was worthwhile, but that it didn’t mean the same thing as “negotiation,” and that the US “recognizes the danger” of dealing with Iran.

Kerry, the top US diplomat though ironically spurning diplomacy as an option on virtually everything in recent days, insisted that despite President Rouhani’s offer, talks with Iran would never be based on mutual trust.

Kerry went on to say that providing a peaceful nuclear program was peaceful is not difficult, though he provided no indication of how that could be done, since the IAEA keeps reaffirming that Iran’s program isn’t diverting anything to any non-civilian purpose, and the US keeps responding to that with new threats.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.