“We have been clear about our red lines and the President will only make a deal that’s good for the American people and the world,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told TIME when approached about the reported proposal.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has dismissed any notion of a proposal that doesn’t center the conversation about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that at some point in the future if this radical clerical regime remains in charge in Iran, they will decide they want a nuclear weapon,” he told Fox News on Monday night, emphasizing that Iran’s nuclear capability remains a “fundamental issue” that “still has to be confronted.”
Asked whether Iran is serious about reaching a deal, Rubio suggested its negotiators are seeking to buy time.
“We can’t let them get away with it,” he said. “They’re very good negotiators. They’re very experienced negotiators, and we have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point.”