Barack Obama fights back against Israeli critics of Iran nuclear deal

US president says framework is ‘once-in-lifetime’ chance to prevent Iran getting nuclear weapon and pledges to support Israel’s defences

Barack Obama has answered continuing Israeli criticism of the framework agreement over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, telling the New York Times the deal is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see whether or not we can at least take the nuclear issue off the table”.

The US president added: “There is no formula, there is no option, to preventIran from getting a nuclear weapon that will be more effective than the diplomatic initiative and framework that we put forward – and that’s demonstrable.”


Two days after the announcement of the deal between Iran and the major world powers – achieved in Switzerland after 18 months of talks and which must be finalised by the end of June – Obama spoke to the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman at the White House for an interview that was published online on Sunday.

Earlier in the day the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who hasconsistently warned against international accommodation with Iran over its nuclear ambitions, appeared on three US news shows to say the agreement was “a very bad deal”.

“A better deal would roll back Iran’s vast nuclear infrastructure, and require Iran to stop its aggression in the region, its terror worldwide and its calls and actions to annihilate the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said on CNN.

“That’s a better deal. It’s achievable.”

Obama, however, said the Iran deal was part of a broader strategy of engagement, as pursued by his administration with regards to Burma and Cuba.

“If it turns out that it doesn’t lead to better outcomes,” Obama said, “we can adjust our policies. The same is true with respect to Iran, a larger country, a dangerous country, one that has engaged in activities that resulted in the death of US citizens, but the truth of the matter is: Iran’s defence budget is $30bn. Our defence budget is closer to $600b .

On CNN, Netanyahu said the deal should have included a provision to curtail Iranian efforts to develop an international ballistic missile. “Those missiles are only used for you,” he said, referring to the US. “No one is asking Iran in this deal to stop its aggression in the region.”“Iran understands that they cannot fight us … You asked about an Obama doctrine. The doctrine is: We will engage, but we preserve all our capabilities.”