Sharpening his attack on Republican lawmakers threatening to kill the Iran nuclear deal in the US Congress, President Barack Obama has warned that the only option it would throw up to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is “another war in the Middle East”.
“let’s not mince words. The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy or some form of war — maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon,” Obama said, stressing that military action would be
far less effective than this deal in halting Iran’s push for a nuclear weapon.
Obama, speaking at the American University in Washington, also pointed to the danger of America losing its credibility as a leader of diplomacy and anchor of the international system if Congress were to reject the deal that represents a historic diplomatic breakthrough that has been supported by about every nation, except Israel.
The Republican-controlled Congress will vote on
the Iran deal when it reconvenes in September after the summer recess. Obama made it clear that the multilateral sanctions regime on Iran will simply unravel if the US alone were to walk away from the deal that has been negotiated not only by Washington but five other world powers with Tehran.
Unilateral American sanctions against Iran will be of little avail, he said. “Our closest allies in Europe, or in Asia —much less China or Russia — certainly are not going to agree to enforce existing sanctions for another 5, 10, 15 years according to the dictates of the US Congress,” Obama said, commenting: “We cannot dictate the foreign, economic and energy policies of every major power in the world.”
Commending the deal that has been negotiated for years and concluded last month, Obama said: “Under this deal, Iran cannot acquire the plutonium needed for a bomb. The core of its heavy-water reactor at Arak will be pulled out, filled with concrete, and replaced with one that will not produce plutonium for a weapon. The spent fuel from that reactor will be shipped out of the country, and Iran will not build any new heavy-water reactors for at least 15 years. Iran will also not be able to acquire the enriched uranium that could be used for a bomb. As soon as this deal is implemented, Iran will remove two-thirds of its centrifuges. For the next decade, Iran will not enrich uranium with its more advanced centrifuges.”