This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The Iran nuclear deal “will make America and the world safer and more secure”, President Barack Obama said on Saturday.

Iranian nuclear deal won't change policy toward US, says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Read more

The 159-page agreement between six world powers and Iran was finalized this week in Vienna, after extensive talks. On Saturday, Obama used his weekly address to seek support among voters, prior to the congressional vote on the deal and against a backdrop of Republican-led opposition.

“This deal will make America and the world safer and more secure,” Obama said. “Still, you’re going to hear a lot of overheated and often dishonest arguments about it in the weeks ahead.”

The president used the four-and-a-half-minute address to explain “what the deal does and what it means”.

The deal, he said, closes off Iran’s pathway to nuclear weapons; allows for “unprecedented” 24/7 monitoring of key nuclear facilities; and gives international inspectors access to the country’s nuclear supply chain. If Iran violates the deal, Obama said, sanctions will snap back into place.

The president said the talks took so long because the US “refused to accept a bad deal”. The deal that was reached meets “every one of our bottom lines”, he said.

Before it can be implemented, the agreement must pass through Congress. It is unlikely to be defeated, but some Republicans have indicated that they will nonetheless attempt to do so.

“If in fact it’s as bad a deal as I think it is at this moment, we’ll do everything we can to stop it,” John Boehner, the speaker of the House, said earlier this week.



Bob Corker, the Republican chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, said he would hold hearings to ensure members of Congress know what they are voting on.

“Those who believe that this truly is going to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon will vote for it,” he told reporters. “Those who believe that is not the case, and the world is not going to be safer – and in some ways it may pave the way for them to get a nuclear weapon – will vote against it.”

Republican 2016 presidential candidates have not minced their words. Among them, Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin said the deal would be remembered as “one of America’s worst diplomatic failures”; Florida senator Marco Rubio said Obama had negotiated “from a position of weakness”, conceding to a regime that “holds Americans hostage”; and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee said the deal “empowers an evil Iranian regime” to carry out its threat to bring death to America.

Among those supporting the Iran nuclear deal is the former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

“Based on the briefings I received and a review of the documents, I support the agreement because it can help us prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon,” Clinton said.

She added that signing the agreement was the beginning, implying that enforcement and compliance might prove difficult.

Iran nuclear deal: the key points Read more

In his address, Obama did not shy away from criticism.

“On questions of war and peace, we should have tough, honest, serious debates,” he said. “We’ve seen what happens when we don’t. That’s why this deal is online for the whole world to see. I welcome all scrutiny. I fear no questions.

“As commander-in-chief, I make no apology for keeping this country safe and secure through the hard work of diplomacy over the easy rush to war.”

Obama plans to promote the deal on Tuesday, when he is due to address the national convention of Veterans of Foreign Wars.

“We have before us an historic opportunity to pursue a safer, more secure world for our children,” he said. “It might not come around again in our lifetimes.

“That’s why we’re going to seize it today – and keep America a beacon of hope, liberty, and leadership for generations to come.”