Nice try but no.

Via WaPo:

In 2003, Iran made an offer to the Bush administration that they would, in fact, do major things with respect to their [nuclear] program; they had 164 centrifuges. Nobody took that [deal] — nothing has happened.”

– Secretary of State John F. Kerry, in an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Nov. 24, 2013

In making the case for the administration’s interim agreement with Iran on its nuclear program, Secretary Kerry has argued that it is important to make progress on rolling back Tehran’s nuclear program or else Iran will continue to stockpile nuclear material that may one day be used in a weapon.

As an example of the cost of inaction, he pointed to “an offer” that Iran made in 2003, shortly after the nuclear program was discovered, that he indicates would have stopped the program in its tracks. In other words, he suggests that the George W. Bush administration blew it.

The Fact Checker was The Washington Post’s diplomatic correspondent at the time and closely covered the negotiations with Iran. Let’s explore what is known — and unknown — about this supposed offer. Kerry’s statement is the first time any senior U.S. official has suggested the proposal was real. […]

The Pinocchio Test

Since the 1979 Iranian revolution, the history of relations between the United States and Iran has been one of crossed signals and missed opportunities.

It’s quite possible the Bush administration acted too quickly in rejecting the efforts of the Swiss ambassador, though it is not surprising. After all, at the very moment the fax arrived, the United States was already engaged in senior-level talks with Iranian officials, so such an expansive third-party approach may have seemed out of left field.

But Kerry goes too far when he describes this as “an offer to the Bush administration that they would, in fact, do major things with respect to their program.” It was not an offer, but a vague listing of U.S. aims and Iranian aims to start off a diplomatic process — which came from the Swiss, not even from Iran. There were no actual specifics concerning the nuclear program; there is notably no mention of halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The actual negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, led by the Europeans, demonstrate how difficult it would be reach an agreement that might have halted Iran’s nuclear program — especially if Rouhani was not exaggerating when he claimed that Iran used the talks as a cover to make major advances.

We note that Kerry’s spokesman did not reiterate that this was actually an offer, but suggests it was merely an opportunity. That’s a huge difference in the world of diplomacy, and thus Kerry earns Three Pinocchios.

Three Pinocchios