The former secretary of state said the situation in Syria is beyond the capability of the US to influence to any significant extent. | AP Photo Colin Powell defends Iran nuclear deal

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell offered a measured defense of the Iran nuclear deal on Sunday, saying it would "stop this highway race they were going down" toward Iran building a nuclear weapon.

"People are saying, 'No, you can't trust them,'" Powll said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I don't trust them. I say, 'We have a deal, let's see how they implement the deal. If they don't implement it, bail out.' None of our options are gone."


Powell, now a retired Army general who was President Ronald Reagan's national security adviser, said the deal recalled Reagan's "trust-but-verify" motto when it came to dealing with the old Soviet Union.

"With respect to the Iranians, it's don't trust, never trust, and always verify," Powell said. "And I think a very vigorous verification regime has been put in place."

Powell, who was President George W. Bush's first secretary of state, also rebutted criticisms that the deal does nothing to stop Iranian funding of terrorist groups such as Hezbollah or its backing of the Assad regime in Syria.

"We have to keep pushing on the bad behavior that the Iranians show constantly throughout the world," Powell said. "But this deal specifically had to do with the thing that was most concerning to the world, most dangerous to the world, and that was there nuclear program, which could produce a weapon in a very short period of time."

