Spy chief defends outline deal with Teheran

CIA director John Brennan gave a staunch defense of the nuclear deal with Iran on Tuesday, expressing surprise at Teheran's concessions and describing criticism of the accord as "wholly disingenuous".

"I must tell you, the individuals who say this deal provides a pathway for Iran to a bomb are being wholly disingenuous, in my view, if they know the facts, understand what's required for a (nuclear) program," Brennan told an audience at Harvard University.

The outline deal announced last week would see the US and the European Union lift all nuclear-related sanctions on Iran in exchange for a 98-percent cut in Iran's stocks of highly enriched uranium for 15 years.