Obama: Through Diplomacy, Without Another War, We Have Achieved Historic Progress With Iran
Sunday from the White House President Barack Obama hailed the relations between America and Iran by citing his administrations nuclear deal and Iran’s release of American sailors and prisoners saying “Perhaps most important of all, we achieved this through diplomacy without resulting to another war in the Middle East.”Partial transcript as follows:This is a good day. Once again we’re seeing what’s possible with strong American diplomacy. As I said in my State of the Union address, ensuring the security of the United States and the safety of our people demands a smart, patient and disciplined approach to the world. That includes our diplomacy with the Islamic Republic of Iran. For decade, our differences meant our governments almost never spoke to each other. Ultimately that did not advance America’s interest. Over the year Iran moved closer and closer to having the ability build a nuclear weapon. From President Franklin Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan, the United States has never been afraid to pursue diplomacy. We could advance by engaging directly with the Iranian government. We’ve seen the results. Under the nuclear deal that we, our allies and partners reached with Iran last year, Iran will not get its hands on a nuclear bomb. The region, the United States and the world will be more secure. As I’ve said many time, the nuclear deal was never intended to resolve all of our differences with Iran, but engaging directly with the Iranian government on a sustained basis for the first time in decades has created a unique opportunity, a window, to try to resolve important issues.Today, I can report progress on a number of fronts. First, yesterday, marked a milestone in preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran has fulfilled key commitments under the nuclear deal. I want to explain why this is important. Over more than a decade Iran moved ahead with its program and before the deal it has installed nearly 20,000 centrifuges that could enrich uranium for a nuclear bomb. Today, Iran has removed two-thirds of those machines. Before the deal, Iran was increasing stockpile of enriched uranium. Enough for up to ten nuclear bombs. Today, more than 98% of that stockpile has been shipped out of Iran. Meaning Iran doesn’t have enough material for even one bomb.