IRAN\’S NUCLEAR BUILDUP & THE ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE

Following is an excerpt from Andrew Kugle\’s article at Washington Free Beacon, which details what the Obama administration is saying as Iran, in front of their, and our faces, builds up its nuclear capability – the nuclear capability that they are supposedly not going to build up as part of the “deal” with President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry:

State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said she was “perplexed” by a New York Times story Tuesday on Iran\’s 20 percent increase in nuclear fuel over the past 18 months.

A reporter asked Harf if Iran\’s increased stockpiles has complicated the current negotiations.

“Not at all. Our team read that story this morning and was quite frankly perplexed because the main contentions of it are totally inaccurate,” Harf said.

“First, the notion in the story that western officials or U.S. officials involved were unaware of this issue or not understanding of what this entails is just absurd,” Harf said. “Under the JPOA (Joint Plan of Action), Iran can fluctuate its numbers in terms of their stockpile. They can go up and down as long as at the end of fixed date they are back down below a number.”

Iran\’s increase in its nuclear stockpile during the negotiations goes against what White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said during a White House briefing on March 2.

“So what we also know is that Iran has decided to engage in a set of serious negotiations, that previously Iran had just used diplomatic negotiations as cover to try to make progress on their nuclear program,” Earnest said. “But in the context of these talks, we\’ve actually succeeded in not just halting Iran\’s progress as it relates to their nuclear program but actually rolling it back in several key areas, including reducing and eliminating their stockpile of highly enriched uranium. So I think the evidence indicates that this sanctions regime has been effective.”