Obama: Iran accord will make the world safer

WASHINGTON — The new deal between Iran, the United States and its allies Thursday is a "historic understanding" that paves the way for a final agreement aimed at preventing Tehran from making nuclear weapons, President Obama said.

"If this framework leads to a final, comprehensive deal, it will make our country, our allies, and our world safer," Obama said at the White House.

Obama forcefully turned his 18-minute statement in the Rose Garden into a victory lap for his policies on Iran and the Middle East. He pledged to work with Congress and Israel, which are both skeptical of any deal with Iran, and with other nations to create a lasting agreement that negotiators have to reach by June 30.

The alternative, he said, could be military action to prevent Iran from developing nukes.

"In those conversations, I will underscore that the issues at stake here are bigger than politics," Obama said of his forthcoming talks with Congress and other global leaders. "These are matters of war and peace."

Obama also stressed that the final deal is not yet done and negotiators must work out specific details between now and June 30. "Nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed," he said.

Congressional Republicans and other critics said they want to see the fine print of any Iran agreement.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., author of a letter signed by 47 Senate Republicans warning Iran that any deal could be undone by Congress or a future president, described the new framework as "a list of dangerous concessions that will put Iran on the path to nuclear weapons."

Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said the agreement itself could lead to nuclear war and that "Neville Chamberlain got a better deal from Adolf Hitler."

The president spoke after a formal announcement by negotiators in Switzerland that the United States, allies and Iran reached a general agreement in which the allies would end some sanctions on Iran if it gives up the means to make nuclear weapons.

Among issues that need to be resolved in the next three months: the pace at which sanctions might be eased and exactly how to verify that Iran is honoring an agreement to shut off all avenues to nuclear weapons.

Addressing the "inevitable critics" of the deal, Obama said diplomacy may be the only alternative to military action to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. He called the pending agreement "our best option by far."

Under the general agreement, he said, Iran faces restrictions on plutonium and enriched uranium, reductions of centrifuges, and the dismantling of a reactor core at a key facility. It must ship out spent fuel and submit to international inspections of its nuclear programs.

"If Iran cheats, the world will know it," Obama said. "If we see something suspicious, we will inspect it."

While economic sanctions would be lifted under the agreement, Obama said the United States will maintain penalties on Iran over its support of terrorism, human rights abuses and ballistic missile program.

Congressional Republicans, some of whom have questioned whether Iran would honor any agreement depriving it of nuclear weapons, said Congress must sign off on any final agreement, setting off another potential conflict with Obama.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he is particularly concerned at suggestions that the United States and allies will grant Iran relief of sanctions in the near-term. "Congress must be allowed to fully review the details of any agreement before any sanctions are lifted," he said.

Noting that he recently visited the Middle East, Boehner said, "my concerns about Iran's efforts to foment unrest, brutal violence and terror have only grown."

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he would push forward with legislation requiring congressional review of an Iran deal — a measure the White House has suggested it would veto.

Corker cited reports that the administration might only seek approval from the United Nations. "Rather than bypass Congress and head straight to the U.N. Security Council as planned," he said, "the administration first should seek the input of the American people."

In the hours after the announcement, some Iranian, U.S. and European officials disagreed about some of the details of the framework, including the question of what Iran has to do to win relief from sanctions.

Another critic, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, tweeted that "any deal must significantly roll back Iran's nuclear capabilities and stop its terrorism and aggression." The deal calls for Iran to reduce its number of centrifuges by two-thirds.

Obama called Netanyahu about the details of the new agreement on Thursday. The president also pledged to "engage Congress" on the need for an agreement.

He also warned critical members of Congress that if they block a final agreement, "then it's the United States that will be blamed for the failure of diplomacy. International unity will collapse, and the path to conflict will widen."

The United States, its allies and Iran had set a March 31 deadline for the political agreement but extended it by two days.

The late March deadline was created in part as a response to threats from members of Congress to impose new sanctions on Iran. That move would gut the entire negotiations, Obama and aides said.

Obama, who has emphasized the reduction of nuclear weapons since his days as a senator from Illinois, has put a high priority on an agreement with Iran, calling it a key to a more stable Middle East.

In a reference to the recent U.S.-led war in Iraq, Obama said critics should be asked "a simple question: Do you really think that this verifiable deal, if fully implemented, backed by the world's major powers, is a worse option than the risk of another war in the Middle East?"

Other Middle East nations have expressed concern about Iran's intentions. Obama said he is inviting the leaders of six nations — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain — to a meeting at Camp David this spring. They will discuss "how we can further strengthen our security cooperation while resolving the multiple conflicts that have caused so much hardship and instability throughout the Middle East," Obama said.

At one point, Obama compared the Iran talks to Cold War negotiations with the nuclear-armed Soviet Union — "a far more dangerous adversary," he added.

"We have a historic opportunity to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in Iran and to do so peacefully, with the international community firmly behind us," Obama said. "We should seize that chance."