President Obama claimed that worldwide economic disruptions could occur if Congress rejects the Iran deal and the US unilaterally imposes penalties on Tehran for maintaining a nuclear program.
Laying out his case for the agreement while giving a speech at American University in Washington, Obama described the accord as being backed by a global sanctions regime that will start “unraveling” if the US goes it alone. A solo attempt to snuff out widely-accepted energy programs only in Iran, the President said, could force the US government “to cut off countries like China from the American financial system.”
“And since they happen to be major purchasers of our debt, such actions could trigger severe disruptions in our own economy, and, by way, raise questions internationally about the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency,” he said.
The president also stated that Congress would harm US credibility by rejecting the deal, claiming that his diplomats’ dedication to a non-military solution helped bring to bear international pressure on Iranian nuclear activities in the first place.
“It was our very willingness to negotiate that helped America rally the world to our cause and secured international participation in an unprecedented framework of commercial and financial sanctions,” he said.
Obama also took pains to defend the nuclear sanctions relief being offered to Iran, rejecting criticism characterizing it as some kind of windfall for the government in Tehran or validation of its non-nuclear activities.
“The international sanctions were put in place precisely to get Iran to agree to constraints on its program,” Obama remarked. “That’s the point of sanctions. Any negotiated agreement with Iran would involve sanctions relief.”
He also defended his claims that opponents of the deal are effectively peddling war, in a speech full of reminders about the right’s aggressive drive to invade Iraq. US rejection of a globally-backed agreement would encourage Iran to develop a nuclear program with military dimensions, he predicted.
“Does anyone really doubt that the same voices now raised against this deal will be demanding that whoever is president bomb those nuclear facilities?” Obama asked.
“I can tell you that alternatives to military actions will have been exhausted once we reject a hard-won diplomatic solution that the world almost unanimously supports,” he added. “So 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.”
President Obama also strongly dismissed the idea that “Death to America” chants encouraged by hardliners in Iran should derail negotiations.
“Just because Iranian hardliners chant ‘Death to America’ does not mean that that’s what all Iranians believe,” he said to applause.
“It’s those hardliners chanting ‘Death to America’ who have been most opposed to the deal,” he added. “They’re making common cause with the Republican Caucus.”
Read the full text of Obama’s speech here, courtesy of The Washington Post.
