Obama: We Have Presented Iran with a Framework for Nuclear Energy

President Obama told a press conference on Wednesday: “Even countries where we have some differences, like Russia, have agreed with us and have worked with us cooperatively in trying to find ways to make sure that we can verify and have confidence going forward that Iran doesn’t have the capacity to develop a nuclear weapon that could not only threaten friends of ours like Israel, trigger a nuclear arms race in the region, but could, over the long term, potentially threaten us.

“Whether we can actually get a deal done, we’re going to have to find out over the next three to four weeks. We have presented to them a framework that would allow them to meet their peaceful energy needs….I’ve said consistently that I’d rather have no deal than a bad deal – because what we don’t want to do is lift sanctions and provide Iran legitimacy but not have the verifiable mechanisms to make sure that they don’t break out and produce a nuclear weapon.”

The Obama administration has agreed to allow Iran to operate 6,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium, up from a proposed ceiling of 4,000 reported two weeks ago, as part of negotiations for a nuclear deal, according to a website approved by the Iranian government.

The Iranian website said the Obama administration has repeatedly given ground on the centrifuge count, starting early this year with a ceiling of 500 centrifuges, then being raised in negotiations to 1,500 and then 4,000.

The Persian-language irannuc.ir website is closely aligned with Iran’s foreign ministry and national nuclear organization.

{Andy Heller-Matzav.com Newscenter}