CIA director John Brennan gave a staunch defense of the framework nuclear deal with Iran on Tuesday, calling some criticism of the accord "disingenuous" while expressing surprise at Tehran's concessions.
In his first public remarks since the outline agreement was announced last week, the spy agency chief said the deal would impose a litany of restrictions on Iran's nuclear work that had once seemed impossible to secure.
"I must tell you the individuals who say this deal provides a pathway for Iran to a bomb are being wholly disingenuous, in my view, if they know the facts, understand what's required for a (nuclear) program," Brennan told an audience at Harvard University.
"I certainly am pleasantly surprised that the Iranians have agreed to so much here.
Citing Tehran's "concessions," including agreeing to a dramatic reduction of centrifuges, Brennan said: "Boy, nobody ever thought they would do that at the beginning."
That was a legitimate concern, he said. But the framework deal itself offered a way of curtailing any attempt by Iran to build nuclear weapons and is "as solid as you can get," he said.
'Reasonable' Rouhani
"I think we'll see. But I don't think this is going to lead to a light switch when all of a sudden the Iranians are going to become passive, docile in the region, no."
New leadership under Rouhani, who was a "more reasonable" figure, also provided an opening. Apparently recognizing the threat posed by the sanctions, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, gave a green light to Rouhani to try to broker a deal, Brennan said.
If the talks failed, Khameini could then blame Rouhani and his foreign minister for the result, he added.
The CIA chief also suggested obliquely that digital sabotage on Iran's uranium enrichment work had played a role.
Asked by New York Times reporter David Sanger if the cyber attack was a factor, Brennan said: "I think their inability to progress certainly helped slow that program."
Sanger in 2012 broke the story of Stuxnet, a US-Israeli effort to undermine Iran's nuclear program with a damaging computer worm.
Brennan made a joking reference to Sanger's articles, saying: "I wouldn't attribute your reporting to helping that frankly."
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