An elated President Barack Obama has hailed the strenuous nuclear framework reached with Iran as “a historic understanding” which, if fully implemented, will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “I am convinced that if this framework leads to a final, comprehensive deal, it will make our country, our allies, and our world safer,” Obama said soon after the touch-and-go negotiations between P5+1 and Iran ended on a successful note in lausanne, Switzerland.
Asserting that the deal meets the core objectives of cutting off every pathway for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon and establishes the most robust and intrusive inspection system in history, Obama was emphatic that Tehran just won’t be in a position to cheat without being found out. “If Iran cheats, the world will know it. If we see something suspicious, we will inspect it,” he said, repeatedly stressing that Iran will face more nuclear-related inspections than any other country in the world.
Obama spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, trying to reassure that the framework “represents significant progress towards a lasting, comprehensive solution that cuts off Iran’s pathways to a bomb”. The comprehensive framework, which has still to be formalized into a full-fledged agreement by June 30, is being viewed as a personal triumph for Obama, who opted for a diplomatic resolution of the issue and persisted with it doggedly, despite periodic attacks from Republicans and sharp criticism from Netanyahu.
But Republicans, who control both Houses of Congress, continue to be highly skeptical of the arrangement, with several of them calling it “flawed” and attacking Obama for what they regard as undue concessions to Tehran. They are demanding a full Congressional review.
House Speaker John Boehner slammed the framework agreement, warning that the parameters represented an “alarming departure” from the initial US goals. “My immediate concern is the administration signalling it will provide near-term sanctions relief. Congress must be allowed to fully review the details of any agreement before any sanctions are lifted,” he said.
Obama, in his own lengthy statement delivered from the White House Rose Garden, sought to warn the Republicans that if they tried to impose new sanctions to undermine the effort, the United States would be blamed for a diplomatic failure. He argued that the deal is one based not on trust, but on unprecedented verification. At the same time, he told skeptics who had predicted collapse of the interim agreement that on the contrary, it has succeeded with Iran meeting all of its obligations by eliminating its stockpile of dangerous nuclear material and agreeing to increased inspections.
“Many key details will be finalised over the next three months, and nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed,” he said while going over the outlines that “we are working to finalise”. Iran, he said, will not be able to pursue a bomb using plutonium, because it will not develop weapons-grade plutonium. “The core of its reactor at Arak will be dismantled and replaced. The spent fuel from that facility will be shipped out of Iran for the life of the reactor. Iran will not build a new heavy-water reactor. And Iran will not reprocess fuel from its existing reactors,” he said. The deal also shuts down Iran’s path to a bomb using enriched uranium, Obama said, noting Iran has agreed that its installed centrifuges will be reduced by two-thirds.