Obama hails nuclear deal with Iran as a landmark

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USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — President Obama began making his case early Tuesday for the historic nuclear agreement with Iran, seeking to convince skeptics in Congress, Israel, and other Middle East nations.

“Today, because America negotiated from a position of strength and principle, we have stopped the spread of nuclear weapons in this region,” Obama said during a dawn speech at the White House.

“Because of this deal,” the president added, “the international community will be able to verify that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not develop a nuclear weapon.”

The Republican-run Congress, many of whom have questioned whether Iran will live up to its commitments, has 60 days to review the agreement and could issue a resolution of disapproval.

Obama, however, vowed to veto any congressional move to block the agreement, saying that “I am confident that this deal will meet the national security interests of the United States and our allies.”

The agreement comes more than three decades after the United States and Iran broke off relations in the wake of the Islamic revolution that produced a virulently anti-American government in Tehran.

In remarks that aired live in Iran, Obama hailed hailed the nuclear agreement as a diplomatic landmark that blocks any technological path Tehran may have to a nuclear weapon and promotes stability throughout the Middle East.

Speaking to the agreement’s critics, Obama said Iran must submit to international inspections of its facilities. “This deal is not built on trust,” the president said. “It is built on verification.”

Skeptics in Congress and the Middle East quickly made themselves heard, questioning whether Iran would abide by its commitments and saying the agreement may have the opposite effect of what its sponsors claim.

“Sadly, the Administration just lit the fuse for a nuclear arms race in the Middle East,” said Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb. “We all know Iran’s neighbors will not sit idly as the world’s largest state-sponsor of terror becomes a nuclear-threshold state.”

In announcing his 2016 presidential candidacy on Monday, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker vowed to “terminate” the Iran deal on his first day in office.

Republican critics echoed Israeli officials who have also denounced the agreement, citing Iranian threats against Israel’s very existence and the regime’s support of terrorism throughout the region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking early Tuesday, called the agreement a “bad mistake of historic proportions” and said, “Iran is going to receive a sure path to nuclear weapons.”

On Twitter, he said: “When willing to make an agreement at any cost, this is the result.”

Officials in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Coast states have also expressed concern about Iranian intentions toward their countries.

In his remarks at the White House, Obama addressed the concerns of those opposed to the deal, including Israel and the Sunni Muslim states of the Persian Gulf.

No deal, the president said, would further endanger all nations, removing any restraints on Iran to pursue the means to make nuclear weapons.

“Put simply, no deal means a greater chance of more war in the Middle East,” Obama said.

Pledging to maintain defense assistance for its Middle East allies, Obama said the U.S. shares concerns about “Iran’s support for terrorism and its use of proxies to destabilize the region” — but added that those are also reasons to support the agreement.

“An Iran armed with a nuclear weapon would be far more destabilizing and far more dangerous to our friends and to the world,” he said as he urged allies to move in a new direction.

Two years of diplomacy has achieved what “decades of animosity” with Iran has not, Obama said, a long-term agreement with a long-time foe that will stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

“This deal demonstrates that American diplomacy can bring about real and meaningful change,” Obama said, “change that makes our country and the world safer and more secure.”

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