U.S. President Barack Obama is continuing his campaign to persuade the American people of the merits of the IranDeal signed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry with Iran and five other world leaders last month in Vienna.
Mic editor-in-chief Jake Horowitz interviewed President Barack Obama in the White House Library about the agreement, which must still be ratified in the Congress.
During the interview the president also took questions from people in Iran, the U.S. and Israel, and responded directly to their comments.
Following is a transcript of the president’s response to a question received from Tel Aviv resident Sam Grossberg, 30:
“As an Israeli citizen, it’s very obvious that you oppose our prime minister. You’ve made a lot of promises in regards to our security as a people and as you know Hamas is right now basically at our doorstep. Why should we, as the Israeli people, trust you?”
President Barack Obama replied: “Well, as president, I have not only pledged and committed to make sure that America supports Israel’s security. But I’ve also provided more intelligence and military cooperation with Israel than any previous president.
“This administration has done everything that Israel has been looking for with respect to, for example, a program called Iron Dome that has been able to shoot down missiles before they hit Israeli soil and undoubtedly saved Israeli lives.
“I think it’s important for Sam to understand, I don’t oppose the Israeli prime minister across the board.
“We have a strong disagreement about whether or not it makes sense for us to take a deal that cuts off all pathways for Iran getting a nuclear program or whether we should reject a deal, in which case, Iran can break out and start installing advanced centrifuges and potentially pursue a nuclear weapon without us having eyes on what’s going on, on the ground or any significant constraints until it’s too late.
“And that is a substantive disagreement that we have but — on a whole range of issues — particularly with respect to Israel’s security, we’ve been with Israel every step of the way. And even Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government would acknowledge that.”
***
One question Horowitz asked was whether there were any criticisms of the deal that the president thought were legitimate. Here’s Obama’s reply to that question.
POTUS: “Oh, absolu— well, what I have said is that there are concerns that are legitimate. It is absolutely true that Iran has a history of trying to play it close to the line when it comes to its nuclear program. And so we do have to be very vigilant about inspections.
“It’s true that under this agreement in 15 years time, they will be in a position to install more powerful centrifuges that produce uranium and that at that point they could conceivably break out and try to get a nuclear weapon.
“The point there, that I’ve made, that I think is indisputable, and in fact, former Israeli intelligence officers have made the same point, is that we’ll have just as much if not more ability to stop them at that point than they would if they are doing it right now and in the meantime we would have purchased 15 years in which we know exactly what they’re doing and can have a lot more assurance about understanding their program.
“It is true that by definition, under this agreement, Iran’s economy improves because they get sanctions relief. That was the incentive for them to enter into this deal.
“And some of that probably goes to help finance some of the dangerous activities that they are involved with anyway, but in that circumstance, as I’ve said before, we can deal with conventional challenges from Iran. What creates real problems for us is if they get a nuclear weapon, so we have to prioritize.