Obama: We Will Monitor Iran's Nuclear Commitments with Full Oversight

The President of the United States wrote in an article published in the Thursday, April 1 edition of the Washington Post that the most precise and comprehensive inspection system ever established has been put in place to monitor Iran's nuclear activities. Iran and six world powers reached an agreement on July 14 last year to significantly reduce Tehran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic. This agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was implemented in January of last year. Barack Obama wrote in his article: "A nuclear-armed Iran was an unacceptable threat to the national security of the United States and our allies. At the same time, it could have triggered a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and thus posed a significant risk to preventing nuclear threats globally." The U.S. President noted the extensive sanctions imposed on Iran and added: "This experience showed that countries that do not fulfill their commitments will face consequences." According to the nuclear agreement with Iran, all of that country's pathways to obtaining nuclear weapons have been blocked, and the most precise and comprehensive inspection system ever established has been put in place to monitor Iran's nuclear activities. He emphasized that global powers will diligently monitor the implementation of all of Iran's commitments. Mr. Obama stated that the potential use of nuclear weapons is "more dangerous than all threats to global security and peace," and said, "That is why, seven years ago in Prague, I announced that the U.S. government is committed to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and pursuing a world without these weapons." He added: "This vision is based on the policies of previous U.S. presidents, both Democrats and Republicans, including Ronald Reagan, who said: 'We want the entire world to eventually be completely free of nuclear weapons.'" The U.S. President referred to the beginning of the nuclear security summit in Washington on Thursday, stating that "preventing terrorists from obtaining and using nuclear weapons" is one of the goals of this meeting and said that "the progress made in the resolutions of the summit seven years ago in Prague, particularly the reduction of nuclear stockpiles in various countries around the world, will be reviewed. At the same time, all countries, including the U.S., will strengthen treaties related to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons by accepting more commitments in this area." According to him, fighting terrorist groups like the Islamic State and preventing these dangerous groups from obtaining nuclear weapons is of special importance. Mr. Obama then listed the achievements of the past seven years in the field of nuclear security, mentioning the "continuation of U.S. and Russian efforts to reduce their nuclear warheads by 2018" and stated that with these actions, the number of nuclear warheads "will be reduced to the lowest level since the 1950s." He added that "in recent years, both the number and role of nuclear weapons in U.S. defense strategy have been reduced, the development and production of new nuclear warheads have been halted, and it has been committed that it will never use nuclear weapons or threaten to use them." The second point mentioned by the U.S. President in his article in the Washington Post is "strengthening the regulatory and control regime, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which prevents the proliferation of these weapons." Mr. Obama stated that they were able to unite the international community in this regard, with Iran being a prominent example. In the third point, he referred to efforts to establish a new framework for civilian nuclear programs that all countries can utilize for peaceful nuclear energy while adhering to their obligations and responsibilities. The U.S. President stated that the so-called "Nuclear Fuel Bank" proposed by the U.S. seven years ago is currently under construction in Kazakhstan. With this facility, countries seeking nuclear energy can advance their plans without needing to enrich uranium, which always carries the risk of theft or military use.