WH Spokesman Earnest: Iran a Bad Country, But Deal Is Good

White House Spokesman Josh Earnest freely admitted to the atrocities committed by Iran, but told CNN on Thursday the administration still thinks it was a good idea to sign a nuclear deal with them.

Appearing on "The Situation Room" to discuss the just completed framework, Earnest was pressed by CNN's Wolf Blitzer about concerns from Israel and some in the United States about the deal with Iran since it is the largest supporter of state-sponsored terrorism and has vowed to wipe Israel off the map.

"We know that Iran is supporting terrorism around the world. We know that Iran is fomenting instability in the Middle East. We know that Iran is making terrible threats against our closest ally, Israel, in the Middle East. We know that Iran is actually detaining unjustly some American citizens inside of Iran," Earnest said.

Those concerns are not resolved in the agreement, he admitted, but argued that those issues are the reason Iran should be prevented from developing nuclear weapons.

"If Iran had a nuclear weapon, they would be more dangerous in supporting terrorism. A nuclear-armed Iran would be able to more dangerously menace Israel. If Iran were able to obtain a nuclear weapon, it would be even more destabilizing to the Middle East," he said.

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