Obama: The choice is the Iran nuclear deal or war

David Jackson | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — President Obama aggressively defended the Iran nuclear agreement against its critics Wednesday, saying it would prevent Tehran from making nuclear weapons and claiming that the alternative is military force.

"Either the issue of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon is resolved diplomatically, through a negotiation, or it's resolved through force, through war," Obama said during a news conference at the White House.

"Those are the options."

The president repeatedly demanded that Republican and global skeptics offer an alternative to the deal, saying at one point that "if the alternative is that we should bring Iran to heel through military force, then those critics should say so. And that will be an honest debate."

The critics — from congressional lawmakers to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia — said Iran could cheat the agreement signed Tuesday and still pursue nuclear weapons.

In Israel, Netanyahu called the deal a historic mistake, adding that sanctions relief will provide Iran with a "jackpot" in billions of dollars it can use "to pursue its aggression and terror in the region and in the world."

Under the agreement, the United States and allies will reduce sanctions on Iran as it cuts back on activities that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

The Republican-run Congress will review the agreement and has the option of passing a resolution of disapproval. Obama, however, has pledged to veto any congressional move to derail the deal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pledged a thorough review of the accord, including hearings, witnesses, and ultimately a vote. All are predicated on what McConnell called a basic test: "Can the agreement meet its essential test of leaving our country and our allies safer?"

Obama, engaged in a media offensive to sell the deal to skeptics in Congress and the Middle East, told reporters that the world faces "a fundamental choice" between closing pathways to Iranian nuclear weapons and the prospect of military action to stop an unrestricted Iranian weapons program.

"This deal makes our country and the world safer and more secure," Obama said. "If we don't choose wisely, I believe future generations will judge us harshly for letting this moment slip away."

The deal does not remove all the threats posed by Iran, Obama said, and the United States and its allies will continue to confront Iran over its support for terrorism and its efforts to exert influence on other countries in the Middle East.

Israel and other critics have legitimate reasons to distrust Iran, Obama said, citing the Islamic regime's threats against the Jewish state. "But what I've also said is that all those threats are compounded if Iran gets a nuclear weapon," he added, citing Netanyahu and other critics.

The president that while some members of Congress — including Democrats -— have legitimate concerns, others are simply playing anti-Obama politics. "I am not betting on the Republican Party rallying behind this agreement," he said.

The agreement doesn't depend on Iran changing its behavior, Obama said, but instead is designed to solve one particular problem: "Making sure they don't have a bomb."

Some critics predicted the agreement would have the opposite effect.

"This deal does not block Iran's path to the bomb — it paves it," said Ron Dermer, Israel's ambassador to the United States, speaking on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on the same program that he is approaching the agreement as "a skeptic."

Some congressional Democrats have also expressed reservations about the Iran agreement, and they are another target of the Obama administration's lobbying efforts.

Vice President Biden met Wednesday morning with members of the House Democratic Caucus to discuss Iran.

Netanyahu, on a media blitz of his own, told NBC News that the deal also threatens the United States by giving "the number one terrorist regime in the world" a chance to pursue nuclear weapons through subterfuge.

The Saudi Press Agency, citing an official spokesman, said Iran should "put her resources towards its development and amelioration of the condition of the Iranian people instead of provoking troubles which would generate certain reactions from countries in the region."

Defense Secretary Ash Carter is scheduled to travel soon to Israel and other Middle East countries to discuss the Iran deal and to reaffirm U.S. defense support for those countries.

On another issue in the news conference, a visibly annoyed Obama told a reporter that no one is "content" with the fact that the parties reached this agreement without the release of Americans being detained in Iran.

Making the hostages part of the nuclear talks would have been a mistake, Obama said, because Iran could have used them to leverage more concessions on other issues.

In the meantime, apart from the nuclear talks, Obama said U.S. officials are pushing Iran every day to release the hostages, "and won't stop until they're out and rejoined with their families."