Hollande's senior adviser denies prefering Congress rejection of Iran deal

Jacques Audibert, the senior diplomatic adviser to French President Francois Hollande, denied reports claiming that ha has said the US could get better Iran deal, if Congress votes no, the World Tribune reported on Monday.

The exiled statement was seen as a direct contradiction of US Secretary of State John Kerry's grim warnings of the consequences that would result if Congress rejects the deal.

"During the meeting with the members of the US Congress on the 17th of July, I never said or suggested that a no vote from the Congress on the JCPOA might be helpful or lead to a better deal," Audibert tweeted .

"I insisted repeatedly on the fact that the deal itself was the best possible."

Democrat Rep. Loretta Sanchez and Republican Rep. Mike Turner, members of the House Armed Services Committee, met with Audibert in Paris earlier to discuss the Iran agreement.

Both lawmakers said Audibert was supportive of the deal overall, "but also directly disputed Kerry's claim that a congressional rejection of the Iran deal would result in the worst of all worlds, the collapse of sanctions and Iran racing to the bomb without restrictions."

"He basically said, if Congress votes this down, there will be some saber-rattling and some chaos for a year or two, but in the end nothing will change and Iran will come back to the table to negotiate again and that would be to our advantage," Sanchez told Bloomberg View.

"He thought if the Congress voted it down, that we could get a better deal," Sanchez added.

Audibert also reportedly told the US lawmakers that he believed the deal should have been permanent and not made to expire in as few as 10 years.

"He didn't understand why Iran needed more than 5,000 centrifuges for a peaceful nuclear program," the report said. Audibert also reportedly "expressed concerns about the robustness of the inspections and verification regime under the deal, according to the lawmakers."