Alliances, or our development and fielding of new military capabilities capabilities we will continue to advance. If iran were to commit a, our robust force posture ensures we can to commit aggression, our robust force posture in sewers ensures we can respond. Iran and its proxies will still pose security challenges. Iran backs hezbollah and lebanon , whos fighting positions i observed firsthand with the defense minister, and is contributing to disorder in yemen. Iran continues to be hostile toward israel. We will continue to build on and enhance our cooperation in meaningful ways. Ive made that clear last week in israel, saudi arabia, iraq, jordan and i made clear that we will keep our robust posture afloat, which includes tens of thousands of american personnel and our most sophisticated ground, maritime, air and Ballistic Missile assets. Our friends understand the merits despite our disagreements about the merits of this deal, that we have an enduring commitment to security. Our par
Ability, and we are stopping that. We are taking that away from them and providing a life time of inspection. Mr. Mccain senator, your time has expired. How did the north korean deal work out for you . Senator mccaskill. Mr. Kerry dont ask me. I didnt write the deal. Senator mccaskill is there anything that would constrain our ability to take any action we felt was necessary against iran . Mr. Kerry no. Senator one thing i do not think has been covered enough in all of the testimony that has occurred, i got the point that senator nelson was trying to make, that the money is not in our control, and it appears, looking at it, if all the other countries walk away from us, if we reject this deal, that they are going to get the money one way or another, either because they are entitled to it if we do the deal or because we cannot control it. But i dont know that that is completely accurate, and i think its important. This is not about is this a good deal. This is also about what happens if
Mr. Mccain thank you. Mr. Dempsey. Mr. Dempsey i will keep my comments brief. As i have stated previously i was consulted during the course of the negotiations and provided my best military advice. It addresses a critical and the most dangerous point of friction with the iranian regime, but as i have stated repeatedly, there are at least five other areas of concern from weapons trafficking to the use of surrogates and proxies in naval minds and undersea activity, and last but not least, to malicious activity in cyberspace. The negotiated deal does not change the options at our disposal. We will continue to engage our partners in the region to address these areas. Ultimately time and iranian behavior will determine if the Nuclear Agreement is effective and stable. In the interim, i will provide my best military advice and options. With that, i look forward to your questions. Mr. Mccain we have a vote right now, and usually we vote we bounce back and forth, but i think this is important
Meanwhile, the United States, the department of defense, and the men and women of the finest fighting force the world has ever known will continue, with your support to work in americans interests defend allies, and upholds the president s commitment that iran will not gain a Nuclear Weapon should it walk away from this deal. Mr. Mccain thank you. Mr. Dempsey. Mr. Dempsey i will keep my comments brief. As i have stated previously i was consulted during the course of the negotiations and provided my best military advice. It addresses a critical and the most dangerous point of friction with the iranian regime, but as i have stated repeatedly, there are at least five other areas of concern from weapons trafficking to the use of surrogates and proxies in naval minds and undersea activity, and last but not least, to malicious activity in cyberspace. The negotiated deal does not change the options at our disposal. We will continue to engage our partners in the region to address these areas.
I also do want to thank both of you, though, in all seriousness for the superb stewardship of this conference. I understand its been basically been a year in the making and thats extraordinary and even more extraordinary the work that its produced, some of it which i have had a chance to see in a world with uncertainty, there are a few more important tasks right now than giving a platform to the next generation of scholars and policymakers, after all, who is going to help us get it right. We are looking to all of you and the work that youre doing could not be more valuable, could not be more timely. So i want to say a special welcome and a special thanks to all the conference participators and all of you, all of you stand at the scholarship of asia. It may be hard to imagine right now. Theres going to be a time when all you want to do is go back to school. After 21 years in public service, im very fortunate to be back in school and particular here at the john hopkins, very fortunate to