Obama defends Iran nuclear deal as US diplomacy over war

President Barack Obama made an aggressive case for his signature nuclear deal with Iran Wednesday, telling wavering lawmakers that rejecting diplomacy would lead to war and destroy US credibility.

Congress is expected to vote in September on whether to approve or disapprove of the deal.

Obama said that in arguing against the accord, he believes Netanyahu “is wrong”, adding that “every nation in the world that has commented publicly, with the exception of the Israeli government, has expressed support” of the deal. “Having presided over the collapse of our hard-won gains in Iraq, the rise of the most threatening terrorist army in the world, the most devastating civil war and humanitarian catastrophe in generations in Syria, the spread of conflict and radicalism across the Middle East and much of Africa, a failed reset with Russian Federation, and escalating cyberattacks and other acts of aggression for which our adversaries pay no price, the president should not throw stones from his glass house”, the senators said.

Mr Obama struck back at opponents of the deal in both the US and Israel, saying they had adopted “a mindset characterised by a preference to for military action over diplomacy”.

“As Congress and the American people review this deal, President Obama’s rhetoric is raising far more questions than answers”.

Obama said Americans “still live with the consequences of the decision to invade Iraq” and underlined that “ironically, the single greatest beneficiary in the region of that war was the Islamic Republic of Iran, which saw its strategic position strengthened by the removal of its long-standing enemy, Saddam Hussein”.

Still, Obama said the vote this time round was bigger than any political career.

“In fact, it’s those hardliners who are most comfortable with the status quo”. But, he said, they have not learned from the subsequent decade.

“How can we in good conscience justify war before we’ve tested a diplomatic agreement that achieves our objectives?”

“The young president offered a different vision”, Obama said. Challenging those who say the US should have layered tougher sanctions on Tehran and held out for a better deal, Obama said they “are either ignorant of Iranian society or they’re just not being straight with the American people”.

The administration is defending the nuclear deal, which aims to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in economic sanctions relief.

Iran has threatened to destroy the Jewish State. Obama also pushed that it was an agreement intended to promote peace and had gained support in the global community.