Kerry: Rejecting Iran deal ‘the ultimate screwing’ of ayatollah

Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview published Wednesday that if Congress rejects an international deal with Tehran, it risks “screwing” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“The ayatollah constantly believed that we are untrustworthy, that you can’t negotiate with us, that we will screw them. This will be the ultimate screwing,” Kerry told The Atlantic.

“Now the United States Congress will prove the ayatollah’s suspicion, and there’s no way he’s ever coming back [to the negotiating table],” Kerry said.

Kerry has been a lead negotiator for U.S. efforts over the past two years to secure an international accord to ultimately lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for new limits on Tehran’s nuclear program.

He has also been one of the Obama administration’s chief point men urging a deeply skeptical Congress to approve the deal brokered between the U.S., France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China with Iran.

“He will not come back to negotiate,” Kerry told The Atlantic about Khamenei if the U.S. rejects the deal. “Out of dignity, out of a suspicion that you can’t trust America. America is not going to negotiate in good faith. It didn’t negotiate in good faith now, would be his point.”

President Obama is expected to argue Wednesday that Congress would make a “historic mistake” if it rejects the nuclear deal. On Tuesday, the president urged Jewish groups to back the accord.

But several key lawmakers have come out against the deal, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a vocal critic of the deal, warned Tuesday it could lead to war.

“They will not be able to get a bomb,” Kerry told The Atlantic regarding new limits on Tehran’s nuclear program.

Also in the interview, Kerry downplayed Iran’s capabilities to follow through on its repeated threats to wipe Israel off the map, saying, “I don’t want to get locked into that debate. I think it’s a waste of time here.”