President Barack Obama addressed the historic nuclear agreement with Iran Tuesday morning, appealing for Congress and the American people to accept the deal.
In light of the 60-day congressional review of the agreement, Obama asked leaders to consider the world without it. “I believe that it would be irresponsible to walk away from this deal,” he said.
“I welcome a robust debate in Congress on this issue, and I welcome scrutiny of the details of this agreement,” Obama said. But while making the case that the deal is in America’s national security interests, the president proceeded to add, “I will veto any legislation that prevents the successful implementation of this deal.”
Obama emphasized that “every pathway to a nuclear weapon is cut off.” He listed several conditions of the deal. Iran will remove two-thirds of its centrifuges, used to make highly enriched uranium necessary for a bomb, and place them in storage. It will not use centrifuges to produce enriched uranium for the next 10 years. Also, Iran will dispose of 98 percent of its enriched uranium stockpile.
“Iran currently has a stockpile that could produce up to 10 nuclear weapons,” Obama said. The deal will reduce the stockpile to “a fraction of what would be required for a single weapon,” yet this restriction will only last for 15 years.
“Today, because America negotiated from a position of strength and principle, we have stopped the spread of nuclear weapons in this region,” Obama said. “Because of this deal, the international community will be able to verify that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not develop a nuclear weapon.” (RELATED: World Powers Strike Historic Nuclear Agreement With Iran)
David Rothkopf, CEO of the FP Group (publisher of Foreign Policy magazine), called Obama’s assertion “stunningly optimistic.”
“The audacity of hope turns out to be core theme of Obama’s Middle East policy,” Rothkopf wrote in a series of sobering tweets. “[S]o much based on assumptions about future Iranian good will.”
Obama stressed the role of international inspections to ensure Iran adheres to the terms of the agreement, saying,”That means this deal is not built on trust. It is built on verification.”
The president said Iran is permanently barred from pursuing a nuclear weapon, because it is a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Iran must complete the steps of the deal in order for crippling economic sanctions to be lifted, according to Obama.
“As Iran takes steps to implement this deal, it will receive relief from the sanctions that we put into place because of Iran’s nuclear program, both America’s own sanctions and sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council,” Obama said. All sanctions will be snapped back into place if Iran violates the deal, the president added.
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