Obama: ‘We Have Stopped the Spread of Nuclear Weapons’ by Iran

[rush transcript]

BARACK OBAMA: "Today after two years of negotiations, the United States together with our international partners has achieved something that decades of animosity has not. A comprehensive long-term deal with Iran that will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. This deal demonstrates that American diplomacy can bring about real and meaningful change, change that makes our country and the world safer and more secure. This deal is also in line with a tradition of American leadership. It's now more than 50 years since president Kennedy stood before the American people and said, let us never negotiate out of fear but let us never fear to negotiate. He was speaking then about the need for discussions between the United States and the soviet union, which led to efforts to restrict the spread of nuclear weapons. In those days, the risk was a catastrophic nuclear war between two super powers. In our time, the risk is that nuclear weapons will spread to more and more countries, particularly in the Middle East. The most volatile region in our world. Today, because America negotiated from a position of strength and principle, we have stopped the spread of nuclear weapons in this region. Because of this deal, the international community will be able to verify that the Islamic public of Iran will not develop a nuclear weapon."