official robert levinson. when the secretary of state is asked about why these people weren't part of the negotiations, he says, well, this was negotiation about nuclear weapons but not about people unlawfully and wrongly detained. well, it quickly became a negotiation about not just nuclear weapons but all kinds of other weapons that we have prevented the iranians from having access to in a worldwide marketplace, that that quickly was added to the topic but we couldn't get three americans released and find out more about one american than we know now. the concessions laid out by yesterday's announcement were also, i thought, pretty stunning. on the idea of uranium enrichment, the obama administration said a year and a half ago that iran didn't have the right to enrich. in november of 2013, the secretary of state told abc news -- quote -- "we do not recognize the right to enrich." it's clear in the nonproliferation treaty, it's very, very clear that there was no right to enrich." end quote. under the agreement

agent named robert levinson. robert levinson now holds the record of having been held hostage longer than anyone else in history and he's still there. he's still there at a time that we are -- that we are -- are in this process. and the resolutions on the access to nuclear facilities, they have violated that. i think everyone knows that. iran's shown from time to time they can't be trusted and the director general of the iaea has said that iran has consistently failed to provide information or access needed to allay the iaea's concerns about weapons potential. so that's -- that's the first thing. the second thing, the rewards the world's leading sponsor of terrorists and we're talking about united nations -- the united states does not normally negotiate with terrorists. this is something i've heard for many, many years, as long as i've been here, until now. and iran remains the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. we've heard it all day today. and according to the state department's 2009 country reports on

washington post" reporter, jason rezaian, iranian-american christian pastor sayyid a bedini and robert levinsonng involved in prisoner negotiations is not a far-fetched idea. at least one prisoner's family has reached out directly to pope francis for help. meanwhile. >>> us a few months ago, the pope met with a high-ranking iranian female politician. for more, let me bring in the president of the plow shares fund. folks might ask here, joe, how does this come together, how does this work? >> right, how can a catholic pontiff help a property test talent president and a muslim ayatollah arrange a prisoner swap? the answer is that's pope francis. as pope he has global reach, global networks. and of course, relations with iran, relations with the united states and as francis, he is deeply interested in seeking a reconciliation between nations. you just saw him play a critical role in the cuba-u.s. reconciliation. i think pope francis believes that a u.s.-iranian cooperation is essential for his long-range goal of a middle east peace. and he can play a role in helping this exchange. remember, there

and robert levinson, whose whereabouts remain unknown. why does the president refuse even to utter their names? a third consequence of this deal is this deal will only accelerate iran's acquiring nuclear weapons. now, the administration claims that the deal will prevent iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. why? because they promise not to do it. we have learned from iran they break their promises over and over and over again. and what we do know is that they will have an extra $100 billion to develop nuclear weapons with now -- i will say the administration has laughingly suggested, well, they will use that on infrastructure to rebuild their roads, to rebuild their energy industry. right now they're sending vast sums to hamas and hezbollah, funding terrorism across the world, and they have those same infrastructure needs. with another $100 billion, you don't think they're going to funnel an awful lot of it to developing nuclear weapons. and i would point out it is not by accident that the ayatollah khamenei refers to israel as the little

and it's believed to hold robert levinson, who was kidnapped from an island off of iran's coast. it continues. iran continues to persecute christians and baha'is in its own country. flagrant human rights violations this does not suggest to me that this is a regime that is ready for reform. this is not in historical context, this is here, this is now, these persecutions, these human rights violations, these -- these imprisonments are right here, right now. and if this were not enough to cause one to question whether we can trust iran to change its ways, consider this -- iran is a key funder of hamas and hezbollah, committed, committed to the destruction of the state of israel, it funds the rockets which are launched into israel's sovereign territory from gaza, southern lebanon, from syria, and these rockets don't threaten iran's sworn enemy, the state of israel. they also endanger civilian populations by inviting if not demanding immediate retaliation from israel. so you have to ask the question, is this a nation that is committed to peace and good global citizenship? hardly. it j

citizens unjustly detained in iran, and for information on the whereabouts of robert levinson, until anyone comes home. i'm almost done. we all know that the middle east today is undergoing severe threats due to violent extremism, challenge governments, and rivalries, but every one of those problems would be worse if iran were nuclear weapon. that is by the agreement in vienna is so important. that if weaid double down on stations, we can force iran to dismantle its nuclear program, but quite .riendly, that is a fantasy the whole purpose of stations was to get iran to the bargaining table and create incentives for the kind of good agreement that we were able to achieve in vienna. over 90 countries have issued public statements in agreement with the deal, including all of the countries involved in the negotiations. everyone of these countries has made tough choices to keep the international sections regime in place. we need their support for implantation. it is important to remember that we tried for many years to get here, as was pointed out. on arked on this bipartisan basis. presid