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US
President Barack Obama watches as Martin Weiss, a Holocaust surviver,
lights a
Menorah during a Hanukkah reception in the Grand Foyer of the White
House December
5, 2013 in Washington (AFP, Brendan Smialowski)
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Washington
— President Barack Obama on Thursday defended his nuclear diplomacy with Iran
before an audience of Israeli diplomats and senior members of the US Jewish
community and officials.
At a White
House Hanukkah reception, Obama said that it was important for the United
States to test Iran's intentions, and pledged to keep working for a
comprehensive deal to deprive Tehran of a nuclear weapon.
"For
the first time in a decade we have halted progress of Iran's nuclear
program," Obama said.
"Key
parts of the program will be rolled back even though the toughest of our
sanctions remain in place.
"That
is good for the world, that is good for Israel," Obama said, vowing to
keep striving for a final deal with Iran over the coming months that takes care
of the "threat of Iran's nuclear weapons once and for all."
Obama also
said however that Washington must remain vigilant and that its commitment to
Israeli security would remain "iron clad" and
"unshakeable."
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu harshly criticized an interim nuclear deal
reached between Iran and world powers in Geneva last month.
Obama's
critics on Capitol Hill have also questioned the president's tactics and are
threatening o enact new sanctions against Iran, which the White House fears
would scupper the talks.
The interim
nuclear deal freezes aspects of Iran's nuclear program, in return for a modest
easing of the sanctions regime that has crippled the Iranian economy.
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