“Critics of our policy, like the Netanyahu government in Israel, acknowledge” that the Joint Plan of Action— an interim deal agreed upon by Iran and world powers last year— has paused Iran’s progress towards a nuclear weapons capability, Obama said during an interview with CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ program.
“We have been very firm with respect to those countries that we think are violating international law or are acting against our interests,” he said. “But I have been consistent in saying that where we can solve problems diplomatically, we should do so.”
The president said he disagreed with “this knee-jerk sense .. on the part of some in the foreign policy establishment that, you know, shooting first and thinking about it second projects strength.”
Obama also addressed his decision to normalize U.S. ties with Cuba, denying it was part of a pattern of being “rolled” by hardline regimes such as Syria, Iran and Russia.
“So, this was said about Mr. [Vladimir] Putin, for example, three or four months ago,” Obama said. “There was a spate of stories about how he is the chess master and outmaneuvering the West and outmaneuvering Mr. Obama and this and that and the other. And right now, he’s presiding over the collapse of his currency, a major financial crisis and a huge economic contraction.”
“That doesn’t sound like somebody who has rolled me, or the United States of America,” Obama stated.
Meanwhile, Iran on Sunday pointed to the historic rapprochement with Cuba as proof that sanctions do not work. “The defense by the Cuban government and people of their revolutionary ideals over the past 50 years shows that policies of isolation and sanctions imposed by the major powers against the wishes of independent nations are ineffective,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Akfham was quoted as saying.
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