John Kerry Slams Trump's Iran Deal: Obama's JCPOA Didn't Give Tehran $300 Billion

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has drawn a sharp contrast between the Obama administration’s nuclear agreement with Iran and Donald Trump’s proposed financial arrangement with Tehran.

Speaking to the BBC, Kerry criticized what he described as a $300 billion package being floated by the president.

Marshall Plan for Iran

He characterized the new proposal as a "Marshall Plan for Iran," questioning the allocation of such funds compared to other global needs.

The former top diplomat juxtaposed this figure with the financial terms of the original nuclear agreement.

“The money that was in our agreement was about $1.78 billion. What he's talking about giving the Iranians is $300 billion,” he said.

Kerry emphasized that these funds belonged to Tehran, stemming from a canceled 1970s weapons deal.

“The money that we gave them was their money, not ours. It came from a deal for weapons back in the 1970s when the Shah was still there.”

Technical Deal Restrictions

Kerry defended the structural restrictions implemented under the original framework.

He noted the destruction of an Iranian plutonium reactor that was two weeks away from becoming operational.

The reactor's calandria was filled with cement, permanently disabling the facility.

The original agreement also imposed cradle-to-grave restrictions on Iranian uranium supplies.

Furthermore, the deal deployed 130 additional inspectors in Iran to conduct daily inspections.

“130 additional inspectors put on the ground in Iran looking every single day, inspecting at will,” Kerry noted.

Path to War

Beyond the financial and technical terms, Kerry pointed to geopolitical shifts driven by the U.S. administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Kerry noted that there was fierce opposition from cabinet members to Netanyahu’s ideas, but that Trump chose to ignore them.

“When the prime minister of Israel, sitting in the situation room, went through what would be gained and what would happen, there were members of the president's own cabinet who thought that was BS and said so,” Kerry stated.

“But the president said, ‘Sounds good to me.’”

Kerry added that this presidential endorsement actively set the U.S. on a path to war.

“Obama was importuned by Netanyahu to join in bombing Iran. And he asked for clearance by Obama to go ahead and do that,” Kerry later told MS NOW.

“Obama said no and refused to partake in that, thought it was an enormous mistake.”

“Ayatollah Went Out on a Limb for Obama Deal”

He also noted the internal political dynamics in Tehran regarding the original negotiations.

“Ayatollah actually went out on a limb supporting the negotiations,” he said.

The Ayatollah faced significant domestic backlash from factions who warned against negotiating with the U.S.

“The people who opposed getting an agreement told the Ayatollah, ‘If you negotiate with the Great Satan, you will regret it,’” Kerry noted.

“He took political flak for that internally.”