International
Mike Theiler / Reuters
President Barack Obama said it would be “a fundamental misjudgment” to ask Iran to recognize Israel as part of a nuclear deal.
In an interview on Monday with NPR News, Obama continued his public campaign to sell the framework nuclear agreement struck with Iran last week in Lausanne to Congress, as well as to skeptical Arab allies who worry about Iran's destabilizing activity in the region.
It followed his comments to the New York Times over the weekend, where he described the deal as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Negotiators have a June 30 deadline for working out the final details of the deal.
“The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran recognizing Israel is really akin to saying that we won't sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms,” Obama told NPR News, according to excerpts of the interview released on Monday night.
“And that is, I think, a fundamental misjudgment.”
Obama went on to emphasize why world powers did not want a deal that would allow Iran to develop a nuclear bomb.
“We want Iran not to have nuclear weapons precisely because we can't bank on the nature of the regime changing,” he said.
“That's exactly why we don't want (Iran) to have nuclear weapons. If suddenly Iran transformed itself to Germany or Sweden or France then there would be a different set of conversations about their nuclear infrastructure.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been critical of the framework agreement, said in a statement on Friday that any final nuclear deal with Iran must include a commitment from Tehran recognizing Israel's right to exist.
“Israel demands that any final agreement with Iran will include a clear and unambiguous Iranian commitment of Israel's right to exist,” Netanyahu said in the statement.
“Israel will not accept an agreement which allows a country that vows to annihilate us to develop nuclear weapons, period.”
Al Jazeera with wire services
In an interview, Obama defended the framework nuclear deal with Iran as a chance to block development of a bomb
Post-deadline accord could put negotiators on course for a final deal by end of June
Comprehensive deal would severely restrict Iran’s ability to make nuclear weapons for more than a decade
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