CIA director slams critics of Iran nuclear deal

The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency has slammed opponents of a recent nuclear framework agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries.

John Brennan told an audience of students and faculty at Harvard University on Tuesday that critics of the nuclear understanding that was reached in Lausanne, Switzerland last week are being “disingenuous.”

“The individuals who say that this deal provides a pathway for Iran to a bomb are being wholly disingenuous, in my view, if they know the facts and understand what is required for a program,” Brennan said at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just outside Boston.

“I certainly am pleasantly surprised that the Iranians have agreed to so much here,” he added.

Brennan said a possible nuclear deal would “cut off pathways not just to uranium enrichment but to plutonium enrichment.”

The CIA chief urged the critics of the mutual understanding to focus more on nuclear-related parts of the accord rather than the parts related to lifting of anti-Iran sanctions.

Iran and the P5+1 group — Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany — reached a mutual understanding on April 2. They now have until the end of June to reach a comprehensive deal.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers in Congress are joining Republicans in supporting a bill that would give Congress the ability to approve or reject sanctions relief despite President Barack Obama’s warning to veto such legislation.

The interim deal has also been criticized by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel has repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program with the regime repeatedly threatening to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities based on the unsubstantiated allegation.