October 04, 2016 - 8:13 PM
WASHINGTON - A claim from the vice-presidential debate between Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine, and how it stacks up with the facts:
KAINE: "We stopped the Iranian nuclear weapons program."
THE FACTS: Kaine is right - at least for now.
One year ago, on July 14, 2015, the United States, six other world powers and Iran finalized almost two years of negotiations on a pact outlining what Tehran had to do to pull back its nuclear program from the brink of weapons-making capacity. And it spelled out the West's obligations to end many financial, trade and oil sanctions that had battered Iran's economy.
So far, Iran has lived up to its end of the deal. It shut down thousands of centrifuges for enriching uranium and exported almost its entire stockpile of the bomb-making material. It disabled a heavy water plant that would have produced plutonium usable in a weapon. It opened up its supply chain to far greater scrutiny. An underground enrichment facility near Fordo operates under strict limits.
But the deal could let Iran start ramping up nuclear activity again after the pact ends in eight years.
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Contributed by Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann.
EDITOR'S NOTE _ A look at the veracity of claims by political figures
News from © The Associated Press, 2016