US: Rohani remarks on Geneva deal not surprising

The White House said Tuesday it was not surprising that the Iranians were describing the nuclear deal reached in Geneva "in a certain way for their domestic audience." Iranian President Hassan Rohani said today that the "Geneva deal means the surrender of big powers before the great nation of Iran." "It's not surprising to us that the Iranians are describing the agreement in a certain way for their domestic audience," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. He indicated "they did the same thing following the agreement of the joint plan of action in November, and we certainly expected they would do the same thing this time," Carney added. He added that "the fact is the agreement marks the first time in a decade that Iran has agreed to specific actions that halt progress on its nuclear program and rolled back key aspects of the program, stopping the advance of the program and introducing unprecedented transparency into Iran's nuclear activities while we negotiate a long-term comprehensive solution." He stressed "it doesn't matter what they say; it matters what they do." He affirmed that "the Joint Plan of Action and the implementation agreement are concrete documents that commit Iran to take specific steps in a verifiable, transparent way. "What matters to us, to the P-5 plus one, to the international community, is what Iranian leaders do, what Iran does in keeping its commitments in this agreement," Carney remarked.