Story highlights Trump repeatedly bashed the Iran deal during the campaign

He also suggested recently he would pull support from the Syrian opposition

Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama said Monday that he expects that his successor will likely reconsider campaign vows to undo some of Obama's signature international accomplishments when he takes office in January.

And he acknowledged a major foreign policy failure, saying that his approach to the conflict in Syria had fallen short. Obama balked at sending US ground troops to fight there and emphasized need for a political solution to the carnage. He also held back from giving major support or significant weaponry to moderate Syrian rebels fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"I recognize that that has not worked," Obama said at a White House news conference.

"It is something that I continue to think about every day and we continue to try to find some formula that would allow us to see that suffering end," Obama said.

He was responding to a question about President-elect Donald Trump's recent suggestion that he would pull US support from the Syrian opposition, as well as campaign vows to gut, rework or void international agreements on climate change and Iran's nuclear program.

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