WASHINGTON (AP) — Here are the latest developments involving the agreement between the United States, Iran and world powers to limit the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program (all times EDT):
1:43 p.m.
President Barack Obama says that he hopes the Iran nuclear deal will encourage the country to “behave differently” and stop sponsoring terrorist actors in the Middle East. He says the U.S. will try to gain greater cooperation from Iran on ending violent unrest in Syria and Yemen.
But, he notes, “we’re not betting on it.”
Obama is speaking at a news conference in Washington.
1:41 p.m.
President Barack Obama is defending his high-stakes nuclear accord with Iran as a sign of American leadership that will make the world safer.
And he says that critics of the plan should consider the alternatives.
Without the deal, he says, the world risks “even more war in the Middle East,” increases the chances of an arms race, and leaves open the possibility of that Iran comes closer to having a nuclear weapon.
Obama spoke during an East Room news conference Wednesday, warning that the deal shouldn’t be allowed to “slip away” because the opportunity “may not come again in our lifetime.”
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1:34 p.m.
The United States has circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that will authorize the Iran nuclear deal.
The draft, obtained by The Associated Press, was circulated to all 15 council members during closed consultations Wednesday. U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power outlined the main points to council members.
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12:46 p.m.
Republican presidential contender Chris Christie says President Barack Obama is lying to the American public to try to win support for the Iran nuclear deal.
When talking about the deal on Tuesday, Obama had said “inspectors will have 24/7 access to Iran’s nuclear facilities.” That is correct when it comes to designated nuclear facilities. But a more pressing question throughout the negotiations has been whether inspectors could immediately access new, suspicious sites.
Under the latest agreement, if Iran refuses access to a suspicious site, an arbitration panel will decide whether the Iranians have to submit to an inspection within 24 days.
Christie said: “I mean, listen, if the president likes his deal then go and sell it, but sell it honestly. Don’t lie to the American people.”
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12:16 p.m.
Britain’s foreign secretary says Israel wants a “permanent standoff” with Iran and suggests it wouldn’t have welcomed any kind of nuclear deal.
Philip Hammond was responding to an opposition lawmaker who criticized the deal struck between Iran and the West aimed at keeping Tehran from building a nuclear bomb. Hammond said in Parliament Wednesday that Israel “doesn’t want any deal with Iran.”
He said: “I think the question you have to ask yourself is what kind of a deal would have been welcomed in Tel Aviv.” He added: “Israel wants a permanent state of standoff and I don’t believe that’s in the interests of the region.”
Hammond said he is traveling to Israel and will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday.
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11:09 a.m.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel isn’t bound by the nuclear deal with Iran brokered by the United States and would continue to oppose it.
Addressing parliament on Wednesday, Netanyahu said “we will reserve our right to defend ourselves against all of our enemies.” He added, “we have strength, and it is great and mighty.”
Meanwhile, a senior leader from Yemen’s Shiite rebels sent a cable to Iran praising the deal as a “historic” achievement. Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the second-in-command of the rebels known as Houthis, said in a statement Wednesday that the deal will contribute in resolving the conflict between Iran and the United States “in a peaceful manner and in harmony that will lead to mutual respect between the people and which will reinforce peace and stability in the region.”
Al-Houthi urged other countries in the region to adopt dialogue “instead of chaos and troubles…which benefit the Zionist enemy.”
The Iran-allied rebel group in Yemen has made a forceful bid for power in Yemen, forcing the country’s internationally-backed president to flee to neighboring Saudi Arabia. Yemen’s exiled government, accuse Iran of arming the rebels.
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10:55 a.m.
Vice President Joe Biden has wrapped up a meeting with House Democrats to brief them on the Iran deal.
Emerging from the session that lasted more than an hour, Biden was asked if he changed any minds among skeptical Democrats.
“I think we’re going to be alright,” he told reporters.
New York Rep. Steve Israel said lawmakers questioned Biden on Wednesday morning about terms of the agreement, including enforcement and the chance for sanctions to snap back if Iran violates the agreement.
Israel quoted Biden as saying that if there is no agreement “we can count on the international sanctions regime unraveling.”
Nothing in the agreement takes the military option off the table, Israel said Biden told Democrats.
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8:27 a.m.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, a physicist who participated in the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna, says Secretary of State John Kerry broached the issue of Americans still being held in Iran. Even though the main purpose of the talks was to find common ground on the nuclear program, Moniz says Kerry “never failed to raise the issue of Americans held unjustly in Iran.”
Moniz also told CNN that the nuclear agreement has stronger restrictions on Iran “than would be the case if we had no agreement.”
He says the agreement provides protection against cheating by Iran. He added “we have bought considerable time to respond” should Iran not live up to its commitments.
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8:25 a.m.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States says he doesn’t believe President Barack Obama “tried to hoodwink Israel” with the nuclear deal. He said the U.S. and Israel simply have “an honest policy difference.”
Ron Dermer tells CNN says the agreement’s 24-day advance notice for inspections by the U.N. nuclear agency gives Iran far too much time to conceal its activities.
Dermer says the deal is that the agreement “does not block Iran’s path to the bomb” but “paves it.” He says that will endanger Israel.
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7:43 a.m.
Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, tells CNN that the agreement reached in Vienna is worse than he feared because it will keep Iran’s nuclear program in place.
Cotton calls the pact “a massive gamble on the hope that Iran will change in the next eight to 10 years.” Cotton argues that “the text of the deal explicitly says the West will help Iran protect their nuclear capabilities from sabotage.”
He apparently was referring to assurances given Iran that inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency wouldn’t engage in sabotage.
Cotton says he believes “the American people will repudiate this deal and Congress will therefore reject it.” The Iraq war veteran says the U.S. will have to “restore the credible threat of military force” if necessary and re-impose sanctions.
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7:35 a.m.
Donald Trump says the Iran nuclear deal is “a disgrace.” The Republican presidential candidate says the U.S. “should have doubled up the sanctions” on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.
Instead, he said in an interview Wednesday on MSNBC, “we were dealing from desperation.”
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7:05 a.m.
Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Lindsey Graham called the Iran nuclear agreement “a terrible idea.”
“Anybody could have done better,” he said in an interview on NBC’s “Today” show.
The South Carolina senator said it’s a fantasy to believe that when the Iranians chant “Death to Israel,” they are “just kidding.” He said the U.S. is “taking the largest state sponsor of terrorism” and giving them more weapons.
Graham said he intends to introduce legislation that would restrict Iran’s ability to purchase weapons technology.
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