WATCH: Obama slams Israel on Iran, 'Consistency is the hobgoblin of narrow minds'
During a press conference in Panama, President Obama took aim at Israeli criticism of his deal with Iran over their nuclear program.
By Haaretz | Apr. 12, 2015 | 5:30 PM | 1
Short transcript:
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PRESIDENT OBAMA: It's not accurate to suggest and I don't think my team has ever suggested that somehow everything is done and it's just a matter of writing it up. This is a situation in which we have a framework that is, if implemented, powerful and will achieve our goal in making sure that Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon. But, the details make a big difference, how they're structured. And, I guarantee you there will be some tough negotiations surrounding that.
And that's what I said the first day when we announced that we had an agreement, and that's what we continue to say. So there's really no contradiction here. Keep in mind that when we started this process off, even with the interim agreement when we signed the JPOA (Joint Plan of Action) way back at the beginning of this whole thing, there was a similar back and forth in terms of interpretation of how this was going to be implemented.
The Iranians were saying that's not true and we were saying this -- but once we actually got through negotiations, it actually turned out we had something that was substantial. That was subject to review by everybody involved. That has proven to be highly effective, even by the assessments of critics of the policy like the Israelis. They've said, 'Yeah, this actually has worked. Iran is abiding by the agreement.' In fact, now, they're saying why don't we just stay here, it's working so well. Despite the fact that they've made almost precisely the argument that they're making now about the final deal. But, you know, consistency is the hobgoblin of narrow minds.
http://www.haaretz.com/video/1.651440
