Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on Tuesday night said the Iran nuclear deal that it will in fact happen, and said it would be “foolish” for the next president to withdraw from the agreement.
“No, the deal is going through and frankly I think it will stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” he told Stephen Colbert during an interview on “The Late Show” Tuesday night. “That’s its objective.”
Colbert asked Moniz directly how long it would stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, several members of the audience applauded at this question. In reply, Moniz explained the details of inspection, as well as the 24-day window between requesting an inspection and when the inspection takes place.
“Can’t they clean everything up and say, ‘Sure, you can come in now, there’s nothing here?'” Colbert asked. “That’s what people who are afraid of this deal are saying. How is that wrong?”
“There have been allusions to throwing drugs down the toilet. It doesn’t work that way with nuclear material,” Moniz replied, to both laughter and applause.
“The next president could certainly withdraw from the deal. It’s a political arrangement, basically,” Moniz said when asked about presidential candidates who have vowed to void the deal on their first day in the White House. “However, we believe that a year and a half from now, the merits of the deal are likely to be very, very clear and it would certainly be a foolish step, to be perfectly honest.”
The Iran deal, which was reached in mid-July between Iran, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, China and Germany, gives Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for limits on its nuclear program. Congress, which had the ability to strike down the deal, missed the Sept. 17 deadline for taking action, which means the deal was free to take effect.
Watch the full interview above.
