Iran nuclear deal will make America and world safer: Obama

Washington, July 18: The agreement reached between Iran and six major powers to limit its sensitive nuclear activities will make America and the world more secure, President Barack Obama said today as he sought support from his countrymen over the issue.

In his weekly address to the nation, Obama said, "It might not come around again in our lifetimes. That's why we're going to seize it today – and keep America a beacon of hope, liberty, and leadership for generations to come," he said.

"This deal will make America and the world safer and more secure," he said.

Obama said though this deal does not resolve all of the threats Iran poses to its neighbours and the world, but it would ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

"This deal actually closes off Iran's pathway to a nuclear weapon," he argued. Today, Iran has enough nuclear material to produce up to 10 nuclear weapons, he said, adding under the deal, Iran will have to ship 98 per cent of that material out of the country.

"With this deal, they'll have to repurpose two key nuclear facilities so they can't produce materials that could be used for a nuclear weapon," he said.

So this deal actually pushes Iran further away from a bomb. And there's a permanent prohibition on Iran ever having a nuclear weapon, the US President said. "Second, you might hear from critics that Iran could just ignore what’s required and do whatever they want.

That they’re inevitably going to cheat. Well, that's wrong, too," Obama said adding that with this deal, US will have unprecedented, 24/7 monitoring of Iran's key nuclear facilities. "With this deal, international inspectors will have access to Iran's entire nuclear supply chain.

The verification process set up by this deal is comprehensive and it is intrusive – precisely so we can make sure Iran keeps its commitments," he said.

"Third, you might hear from critics that Iran faces no consequences if it violates this deal. That's also patently false. 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," he said.

PTI