Obama: Iran nuclear deal will make world safer | McClatchy Washington Bureau

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the Iran nuclear deal announced this week will make the world safer and more secure.

“Without a deal, we risk even more war in the Middle East and other countries in the region would feel compelled to pursue their own nuclear programs, threatening a nuclear arms race in the most volatile region in the world,” he said.

Obama made the remarks at a news conference a day after six world powers and Iran struck a deal to allow Iran to pursue a nuclear energy and research program but preventing it from producing a nuclear weapon.

He strongly defended the deal, though he said he knows some members of Congress oppose the deal. He told reporters that critics have not offered an alternative.

“My hope is everyone in Congress also evaluates this agreement based on the facts, not on politics, not on posturing,” he said. “The majority of Congress should approve of this deal. But we live in Washington, and politics do intrude.”