Obama warns Trump not to jettison Iran nuclear deal

In language that seemed clearly directed at incoming President Donald Trump, who is set to take office on Friday, Obama said “the US must remember that this agreement was the result of years of work, and represents an agreement between the world’s major powers - not simply the US and Iran.”

He said the deal had "achieved significant, concrete results in making the US and the world a safer place" and “verifiably prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” Such a diplomatic solution, he added, was “far preferable to an unconstrained Iranian nuclear program or another war in the Middle East.” Trump has often denounced the nuclear deal, and in a Sunday interview with the Times of London and Bild newspaper of Germany he continued his criticism, saying, “I’m not happy with the Iran deal, I think it’s one of the worst deals ever made.” But he declined to say whether he intended to 'renegotiate' the deal, as he asserted regularly during the presidential campaign. 

Obama insisted on Monday that despite US reservations about other actions by Iran, including its support for 'violent proxies' and 'terrorist groups', Tehran was “upholding its commitments, demonstrating the success of diplomacy.” Iran, he said, had “reduced its uranium stockpile by 98 per cent and removed two-thirds of its centrifuges.” “There is no question, however, that the challenges we face with Iran would be much worse if Iran were also on the threshold of building a nuclear weapon,” Obama said.