Earlier today Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, Austria, where much of the work on last year's Iran nuclear deal took place. Kerry often addresses the embassy staff as he travels from country to country, thanking them for their behind the scenes work and engaging in lighthearted banter with his audience. In this case, Kerry suggested that the staff in Vienna would have some good stories to tell their grandchildren about their time in the embassy as the nuclear talks with Iran were taking place:
[W]e jammed you all last year and the year before with countless meetings here. So you've been very, very much a part of an extraordinary journey that has produced an historic outcome, and that's something that you can take with you forever, maybe tell – embellish it a little bit for the grandchildren, tell them how you sat in a room and got Zarif to give in to your mighty persuasion. (Laughter.) Whatever you want, folks. (Laughter.)
The Obama administration and Kerry in particular have come under increasing fire for the way the Iran deal came about, especially in light of recent admissions by White House advisor Ben Rhodes about how the deal was sold to the media and the public.