(JTA) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that he is “concerned” by reports that details of a potential nuclear deal with Iran will be made public.
Though he did not mention Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by name, his statements to reporters on Monday in Geneva indicated that he could be one of the leaks.
Kerry’s comments came after an unnamed Israeli official said publicly that Israel knows more about the proposed deal than Congress, and that Netanyahu will reveal some of these details during his speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
“We are concerned by reports that suggest selected details of the ongoing negotiations will be discussed publicly in the coming days,” Kerry said. “I want to say clearly, doing so would make it more difficult to reach the goal that Israel and others say they share in order to get a good deal.
“Israel’s security is absolutely at the forefront of all our minds, but rightly so is the security of all the other countries in the region. So is our security in the United States.”
Earlier in the day, Kerry staunchly defended Israel in an address to the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Kerry left later Monday for Montreux, Switzerland, to resume nuclear negotiations with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
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