‘You Don’t Need to Raise Your Voice’: State Dept. Spox. Rebukes AP Reporter in Fiery Clash Over Iran

State Department spokesperson Ned Price rebuked Associated Press reporter Matt Lee on Monday during a spat about Iran, telling him that he “[doesn’t] need to raise [his] voice.”

On Friday, the United States granted sanctions waivers to allow the remaining parties in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – which the United States and Iran are no longer party to, while China, Russia and European countries are – to do civilian nonproliferation activity at Iran’s nuclear facilities. The Trump administration had revoked these waivers in 2020.

The exchange between Lee and Price during Monday’s State Department press briefing featured a lot of interruptions. For flow, below is the transcript of the back-and-forth.

Lee: Ned, are you – that long list of things that you said that these waivers give, you’re saying that there’s no benefit to Iran in any of that?

Price: I am saying that the net benefit of this is a nonproliferation benefit for us.

Lee: Iran gets nothing out of it?

Price: When you say sanctions waiver —

Lee: I’m not talking about – hold on a second.

Price: Matt, you don’t need to raise your voice. You don’t —

Lee: But you’re the one – you’re the one who – you guys are the ones who said you were restoring the waivers, right? Okay. So if Iran really gets no benefit at all out of this, then why even bother?

Price: Why bother? I just explained to Ben. Because if —

Lee: No, well, you – tell me why Iran doesn’t benefit from this.

Price: Matt, this is something that redounds —

Lee: You’re talking about – you’re assuming that everyone thinks that sanctions relief equals dollars —

Price: Well, that was the question.

Lee: — going to Iran.

Price: The question was you just waived —

Lee: No.

Price: It was.

Lee: That wasn’t really the question.

Price: It was.

Lee: That was the way you interpreted the question.

Price: You can refer to the transcript.

Lee: So sanctions relief does not necessarily mean only dollar bills flying across the table into Iran – into the Iranian treasury’s coffers, does it? Or is —

Price: In this case, it will allow Iran to undertake nuclear nonproliferation and safety activities that would otherwise be proscribed.

Lee: Yes, which is a benefit to Iran that it was not getting before.

Price: The fact is, Matt, that what is in our nonproliferation interest can also be, in some ways, in Iran’s interest. That doesn’t change the fact that it is manifestly in our interest.

Lee: Do they – so do they get a benefit of —

Price: Matt, I was referring to the sort —

Lee: Do they get any benefit out of this or not?

Price: It is – some of these steps redound to their interest.

Lee: Do they get any benefit or not?

Price: This is in our interest to do, which is precisely why the last —

Lee: Is it in Iran’s interest as well?

Price: — which is why the last administration did it. In 2018, Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo, as I quoted before, said precisely this decision will help reduce proliferation —

Lee: And two years later – and two years later when he rescinded the waivers, he said that – he accused of Iran of taking – of participating in nuclear blackmail and said that they weren’t – that they weren’t deserving of the benefits that accrue to them under this.

You’re stuck on this idea that – and interesting that you used the word “enrich” because I think you’re talking about it in terms of money, but enrichment obviously has a different kind of meaning when it comes to Iran. But I don’t understand how you can say that Iran gets no benefit and that this isn’t some kind of sanctions relief that you – that the administration has offered to Iran before it has made any of its own concessions.

Price: Matt, the question I was responding to took this in a vein —

Lee: Okay. Well, then, forget about the question you were —

Price: Yeah.

Lee: — you think you were responding to. Answer my question: Does Iran benefit at all from the waivers that were signed?

Price: You will need to ask the Iranian Government whether they think this is a benefit to them. We know —

Lee: Well, who do you think this benefits? Just you?

Price: We know this is of benefit to us. The ability of third-party entities to work on nuclear nonproliferation projects —

Lee: Okay, I’m sorry, now is the U.S. — 

Price: — and nuclear safety projects in Iran in the face of our growing concerns, nonproliferation and nuclear safety concerns – that is in our benefit, yes.

Lee: The people that this benefits, in fact, are actually Russian, Chinese, European companies, right? Is that what you’re saying?

Price: Matt, I am saying that it is manifestly to our advantage —

Lee: And not Iran’s?

Price: It benefits us to —

Lee: Okay. Well, if you can argue that —

Price: — be able to address nuclear safety and nuclear nonproliferation concerns on Iran.

Lee is known for his tough questioning of State Department personnel. He and Price have sparred over the past couple weeks on issues from Iran to Russia. Last week, during a spat about Russia, Lee accused Price of wading into “Alex Jones territory,” referring to the far-right conspiratorial radio host. In August, Lee and Price clashed amid the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Watch above, via CSPAN.