Washington: US President Barack Obama rebuffed critics of the Iran nuclear agreement yesterday, defending the historic accord amid scepticism from lawmakers reviewing the deal.
In his weekly address, Obama said that without the accord, “we’d risk another war in the most volatile region in the world,” underlining the limits now placed on Iran’s nuclear programme.
“This deal actually pushes Iran further away from a bomb. And there’s a permanent prohibition on Iran ever having a nuclear weapon,” Obama said. “We will have unprecedented, 24/7 monitoring of Iran’s key nuclear facilities.”
He said repercussions would be swift if Iran did not stick to the agreement. “If Iran violates this deal, the sanctions we imposed that have helped cripple the Iranian economy — the sanctions that helped make this deal possible — would snap back into place promptly.”
The agreement, signed on Tuesday after two years of talks, aims to roll back Tehran’s nuclear programme in return for lifting sanctions that have stunted Iran’s economy. The US Congress has 60 days to review the agreement, and can vote to approve or reject it.
Obama’s Republican rivals, who hope to scupper the agreement in a planned Congressional vote, have accused him of appeasement. Obama said he was not scared of naysayers, and welcomed questions on the deal. “I welcome all scrutiny. I fear no questions. As Commander-in-Chief, I make no apology for keeping this country safe and secure,” he said.
“Does this deal resolve all of the threats Iran poses to its neighbors and the world? No. Does it do more than anyone has done before to make sure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon? Yes.”
Under legislation passed in May, Obama is barred from lifting congressional sanctions on Iran during the review period, unless Congress approves the deal during that time. Should Congress pass a resolution of disapproval, Obama would veto that resolution. Two-thirds of lawmakers would be needed to override a presidential veto. Obama will address the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars next week, where he will continue his defence of the deal, which he said met the red lines set out by Washington. “We refused to accept a bad deal. We held out for a deal that met every one of our bottom lines. And we got it.”
US National Security Adviser Susan Rice earlier in the week said that Iran will have no way to avoid inspections of military or other sites that the United States and its allies deem suspicious when a nuclear pact sealed this week goes into effect.
Rice said the deal would not give Iran any room to oppose inspections if Washington or others had information believed to reveal a secret site that they took to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for review.
“If the Iranians said, ‘No, you can’t see that site,’ whether it’s a military site or not, the IAEA, if it deems the site suspicious, can ask for access to it,” she said.
If Iran refuses access but five of the eight international signatories to the deal demand an investigation under a newly created joint commission, Iran must comply, she said. “It’s not a request. It’s a requirement,” Rice said. Iran would be “bound to grant that access.”
Rice dismissed concerns that Iran could hide radioactive nuclear material in what would be large facilities during that waiting period. “They can’t hide the evidence of that in any meaningful way in that kind of period of time. And you can’t hide a facility of that size very easily for long,” she said.
Rice gave a strong indication that some of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium would be shipped to Russia and said the United States would not be worried about that. “It can be shipped out to a third country, like Russia. That’s probably the most likely means ... Russia has its own fissile material, it’s handled it appropriately, we’re not concerned about that,” Rice said. Agencies
