Fox News White House correspondent Ed Henry challenged White House press secretary Jay Carney on the true intention of Iran's nuclear media blitz Thursday in the White House press conference. Carney repeatedly asserted Iranian statements denying certain aspects of the deal are "spin" and intended for domestic political consumption.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told CNN yesterday the White House is mischaracterizing the Joint Plan of Action by suggesting it requires Tehran to dismantle any of their nuclear infrastructure.
The Joint Plan of Action itself has not yet been made public, leading to some confusion as to whose version of the deal is correct.
Henry asked Carney incredulously how such a bold statement to an international media outlet could not be interpreted as a message to President Obama. Carney deferred to talking points in his response, noting the White House is primarily concerned with Iran's actions as the deal is implemented.
Full exchange:
ED HENRY: On that question, when you continue to say that on their nuclear comments that they're just making these comments for domestic political consumption, CNN is broadcast outside of Iran, right? You could confirm it?
JAY CARNEY: Yeah, I've seen it here.
HENRY: So are they -- (laughter) -- aren't they also sending a message to you, to the president?
CARNEY: What I --
HENRY: -- to the U.S. It's not just domestic political consumption if they're talking to a broader audience.
CARNEY: Ed, what I can tell you is that we are looking at what the Iranians are actually doing. Are they complying with the very specific commitments they made in the Joint Plan of Action? And as I mentioned earlier to Jim, representing both CNN and CNN International hear -- (laughter) --
HENRY: Thank you.
Full question and answer: