As the 2016 presidential campaigns begin to gear up, the candidates are making their positions known so that voters can get a better understanding of who those candidates are.
Recently, Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) was interviewed on national radio about our policies regarding Iran. Rubio pointed out that there was still a lot of confusion about what, exactly, our policy is. Here's what Rubio said during the interview:
"The Iranians are now saying that what we're saying the deal is and what they understand it to be are two different things."
Our partners at PolitiFact Florida looked into Rubio's claim to see if he was accurate. PolitiFact reporter Joshua Gillin says that Rubio's claim rates TRUE on the Truth-O-Meter. Gillin said that Rubio summarized the situation perfectly.
"What Rubio is talking about is this agreement, which is really a framework for a future agreement," said Gillin. "The terms are still up in the air, but basically, the United States is saying that sanctions against Iran will be phased out gradually, while Iran says that those sanctions are going to go away immediately. That's a classic example of two opposing viewpoints."
Gillin also noted that there's a big difference when it comes to weapons inspections. "Here's another example of being polar opposites," said Gillin. "The United States is saying that weapons inspectors will be able to go wherever they want, but the Iranians have other ideas, saying that there will be very tight controls on where weapons inspectors will be able to go."
Gillin said that Sen. Rubio characterized the difference of positions between the United States and Iran very accurately, which led to a TRUE rating on PolitiFact's Truth-O-Meter.
SOURCES: Difference of opinion between U.S. and Iran?
- PolitiFact ruling
- NPR, "Transcript: NPR's Full Interview With Sen. Marco Rubio," April 13, 2015
- Harvard Belfer Center, "Comparing US and Iranian Positions on Nuclear Framework," April 7, 2015
- New York Times, "Outline of Iran Nuclear Deal Sounds Different From Each Side," April 4, 2015
- Al-Monitor, "Differences emerge in US, Iran interpretations of nuclear deal," April 8, 2015
- Wall Street Journal, "Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Blasts Terms of Nuclear Framework Deal," April 9, 2015
- Fox News, "Nuclear ‘deal’ critics worried about ‘dueling’ fact sheets from US, Iran," April 7, 2015
- Reuters, "Kerry says he stands by presentation of Iran nuclear deal," April 12, 2015
- The Hill, "White House: Iran 'cannot change the facts' of nuclear deal," April 10, 2015
- Email interview, State Department spokesman Sam Werberg, April 15, 2015
- Email interview, Belfer Center Director Graham Allison, April 20, 2015
- Email interview, Matt Kroenig, April 27, 2015