Sometimes There Just Are No Words

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air posted an article today about a recent statement by Maria Harf on the Iranian nuclear negotiations.

On June 1st, the New York Times reported:

With only one month left before a deadline to complete a nuclear deal with Iran, international inspectors have reported that Tehran’s stockpile of nuclear fuel increased about 20 percent over the last 18 months of negotiations, partially undercutting the Obama administration’s contention that the Iranian program had been “frozen” during that period.

The article at Hot Air states that Ms. Hart does not seem to understand the concern:

Pressed by the media for an answer on a New York Times story about the sharp increase in material during the Obama administration’s negotiations, Harf pronounced herself and her team “perplexed” at the concern. “There are some real issues, serious ones that we have to resolve in these talks,” Harf responded yesterday, “but this just isn’t one of them.”

The article includes her entire statement. However, Ed Morrissey has his own summary of Ms. Hart’s statement:

  • The State Department considers concern over a 20% increase in Iranium nuclear stockpiles “absurd”
  • The entire team is “totally perplexed” why the New York Times would report on it
  • However, it’s apparently true, even while being “totally inaccurate,” because it’s “absurd” to think the State Department wasn’t already aware of it
  • Harf keeps repeating herself over and over to convince people that it doesn’t matter

Maybe the problem with the Iranian treaty is not limited to the negotiators.