Netanyahu twisted Kerry’s words during Congress speech, US says
The United States has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of misquoting US Secretary of State John Kerry’s words on Iran’s nuclear program.
During his controversial speech to Congress on Tuesday, Netanyahu "misrepresented what Kerry had said" during his congressional testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on February 25, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki quoted an online article written on the website FactCheck.org on Wednesday.
In his speech, Netanyahu said Kerry had disclosed that Iran could "legitimately possess" 190,000 centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium.
He claimed that amount of centrifuges could put Iran "weeks away from having enough enriched uranium for an entire arsenal of nuclear weapons and this with full international legitimacy."
Psaki, however, said Kerry had only noted that the same number of centrifuges could be used by a peaceful nuclear program.
"[I]f you have a civilian power plant that’s producing power legitimately and not a threat to proliferation, you could have as many as 190,000 or more centrifuges," Kerry told the committee.
At least 55 Democrats, including eight senators and 47 House members, boycotted Netanyahu’s address to protest his sharp criticism of President Barack Obama’s strategy in dealing with Iran.
Criticisms made by some US lawmakers after Netanyahu’s speech indicated that he failed in his mission to sabotage nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group -- Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi described the speech as an "insult to the intelligence of the United States."
President Obama, who would not meet with Netanyahu during his visit to Washington, also said he did not watch the prime minister’s address, but he read the transcript and it contained "nothing new."
Obama said Netanyahu did not offer any "viable alternatives" to the negotiations.
During Netanyahu’s speech, Kerry was holding a three-hour session with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the Swiss city of Montreux.
The new round of talks in Montreux comes as representatives from Iran and the United States held three rounds of intense negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva on February 22-23 to bridge their differences ahead of a key July 1 deadline for reaching a comprehensive deal.
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