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 The president's remarks followed skepticism of the historic accord
expressed by some U.S. allies abroad as well as by members of
Congress at home, including fellow Democrats. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the fiercest opponents of the six-month
deal, called it a "historic mistake" and announced he would be
dispatching a top envoy to Washington to try to toughen the final
agreement negotiators will soon begin hammering out.
Obama, without naming names, swiped at those who have questioned the
wisdom of engaging with Iran.
"Tough talk and bluster may be the easy thing to do politically, but
it's not the right thing to do for our security," he said during an
event in San Francisco.
The weekend agreement between Iran and six world powers — the U.S.,
Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany — is to temporarily halt
parts of Tehran's disputed nuclear program and allow for more
intrusive international monitoring. In exchange, Iran gains some
modest relief from stiff economic sanctions and a pledge from Obama
that no new penalties will be levied during the six months.
Despite the fanfare surrounding the agreement, administration
officials say key technical details on the inspections and sanctions
relief must still be worked out before it formally takes effect.
Those talks will tackle the toughest issues that have long divided
Iran and the West, including whether Tehran will be allowed to
enrich uranium at a low level.
Iran insists it has a right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes,
and many nuclear analysts say a final deal will almost certainly
leave Iran with some right to enrich. However, that's sure to spark
more discord with Israel and many lawmakers who insist Tehran be
stripped of all enrichment capabilities. British Foreign Secretary
William Hague said he expects the deal to be fully implemented by
the end of January.
European Union officials say their sanctions could be eased as soon
as December. Those restrictions affect numerous areas including
trade in petrochemicals, gold and other precious metals, financial
transfers to purchase food and medicine, and the ability of third
countries to use EU-based firms to insure shipments of Iranian oil
again.
The groundwork for the accord was laid during four clandestine
meetings between U.S. and Iranian officials throughout the summer
and fall. An earlier meeting took place in March, before Iranians
elected President Hassan Rouhani, a cleric who has taken more
moderate public stances than his predecessor. Details of the secret
talks were confirmed to The Associated Press by three senior
administration officials.
The U.S. and its allies contend Iran is seeking to produce a nuclear
bomb — of particular concern to Israel, which fears an attack —
while Tehran insists it is merely pursuing a peaceful nuclear
program for energy and medical purposes.
Even with the criticism, for Obama the sudden shift to foreign
policy presents an opportunity to steady his flailing second term
and take some attention off the domestic troubles that have plagued
the White House in recent weeks, especially the rollout of his
signature health care law. Perhaps with his presidential standing —
and the strength of the rest of his term — in mind, he made sure on
Monday to draw a connection between the nuclear pact and his
long-declared willingness to negotiate directly with Iran.
"When I first ran for president, I said it was time for a new era of
American leadership in the world, one that turned the page on a
decade of war and began a new era of engagement with the world," he
said. "As president and as commander in chief, I've done what I've
said."
Later, at a high-dollar fundraiser in Los Angeles, Obama said he
will not take any options off the table to ensure Iran does not
develop a nuclear weapon.
However, he added, "I've spent too much time at Walter Reed looking
at kids 22, 23, 24, 25 years old who've paid the kind of price that
very few of us in this room can imagine on behalf of our freedom not
to say that I will do every single thing that I can to try to
resolve these issues without resorting to military conflict."
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The temporary accord is historic in its own right, marking the most
substantial agreement between Iran and the West in more than three
decades. The consequences of a permanent deal could be far more
significant, lowering the prospects of a nuclear arms race in the
volatile Middle East and perhaps opening the door to wider relations
between the U.S. and Iran, which broke off diplomatic ties following
the 1979 Islamic revolution.
However, Obama and his advisers know the nuclear negotiations are
rife with risk. If he has miscalculated Iran's intentions, it will
vindicate critics who say his willingness to negotiate with Tehran
is naive and could inadvertently hasten the Islamic republic's march
toward a nuclear weapon. Obama also runs the risk of exacerbating
tensions with key Middle Eastern allies, as well as members of
Congress who want to deepen, not ease, economic penalties on Iran.
Despite Obama's assurances that no new sanctions will be levied on
Iran while the interim agreement is in effect, some lawmakers want
to push ahead with additional penalties. A new sanctions bill has
already passed the House, and if it passes the Senate, Obama could
have to wield his veto power in order to keep his promise to Tehran.
Even some members of Obama's own party say they're wary of the deal
struck in Geneva.
"I am disappointed by the terms of the agreement between Iran and
the P5+1 nations because it does not seem proportional," said Sen.
Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a close ally of the White House. "Iran simply
freezes its nuclear capabilities while we reduce the sanctions."
The Senate's Democratic majority leader, Harry Reid, was
noncommittal on the subject of sanctions on Monday. On NPR's Diane
Rehm Show, he said that when lawmakers return from their
Thanksgiving break, "we will take a look at this to see if we need
stronger sanctions ... and if we need work on this, if we need
stronger sanctions I am sure we will do that."
Some lawmakers are also concerned about concessions the world powers
made to Iran on its planned heavy water reactor in Arak, southwest
of Tehran. Two congressional aides said that under the terms of the
agreement, international monitors will not being able to watch live
feeds of any activity at Arak and will instead retrieve a recording
from the preceding day during each daily inspection.
The aides were not authorized to provide details of the agreement
and demanded anonymity.
On the positive side, Michael Desch, a political science professor
at the University of Notre Dame, compared Obama's diplomatic
overtures to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's secret outreach to
China in the 1970s, which paved the way for the historic opening of
U.S. relations with the Asian nation.
"Then, as now, critics complained that the U.S. was in danger of
being hoodwinked by a radical and violent regime that was playing us
for a sucker," Desch said. "An opening to Iran could potentially not
only contain its nuclear program but set the stage for broader
changes there as well."
[Associated
Press; JULIE PACE, AP White House Correspondent]
Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn in San Francisco and Bradley
Klapper in Washington contributed to this report.
Follow Julie Pace at
http://twitter.com/jpaceDC.
Copyright 2013 The Associated
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broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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