Obama: ‘chance for change in the region’

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama heralded a nuclear deal with Iran yesterday as an opportunity worth seizing and warned Congress he would veto any legislation that prevented its successful implementation.

Obama, speaking at the White House, said every pathway for Iran to get a nuclear weapon was cut off under the agreement. The deal was built on verification, not trust, he said, and it would be “irresponsible” to reject.

Obama said the deal did not resolve all of the differences between the historic foes and noted Washington would maintain sanctions on Tehran for human rights violations and other issues.

Despite those differences, Obama said the deal was a chance for change in the region.

“This deal offers an opportunity to move in a new direction,” Obama said. “We should seize it.”

The deal represents a foreign policy win for Obama, who was criticised as a 2008 presidential candidate for proposing that the US reach out to its enemies.

Under the deal, sanctions imposed by the US, European Union and the UN will be lifted in exchange for Iran agreeing to long-term curbs on a nuclear programme that the West suspected was aimed at creating a nuclear bomb. – Reuters