John Kerry, Ernest Moniz Defend Iran Deal

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz made the rounds on the U.S. Sunday (July 19) morning news shows to defend the nuclear deal made with Iran last week.

Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation, Kerry said the agreement is based on verification and not on trust and that it does not change U.S. relations with Iran.

"We're still adversaries. We're not allies and friends by any means," Kerry said of Iran.

Under the deal, international sanctions against Tehran will be gradually removed in return for Iran accepting long-term curbs on it nuclear program that the West has suspected was aimed at creating a nuclear bomb.

The U.S. State Department said it sent to members of Congress on Sunday the nuclear agreement reached last week between Iran and six world powers, including annexes and related materials.

U.S. lawmakers have 60 days in which to review the agreement. The State Department said in a statement that the 60-day review period begins on Monday, July 20

"If we don't do this deal, if Congress says no to this deal, then there will be no restraints on Iran," Kerry said on Face the Nation. "There will be no sanctions left. Our friends in this effort will desert us. We will be viewed as having killed the opportunity to stop them from having a weapon," he said.

"They will begin to enrich again and the greater likelihood is what the president said the other day, you'll have a war," he continued, in reference to U.S. President Barack Obama .

Iran, which says its nuclear work is for civilian purposes, sees its program as a symbol of national pride and resilience in the face of what it sees as decades of hostility from Western countries that opposed its 1979 Islamic revolution.