After a plane carrying Americans formerly imprisoned in Iran had left Tehran on Sunday, Barack Obama hailed their release and the end of sanctions on Iran under the nuclear deal as a triumph of diplomacy over conflict. “This is a good day,” the president said in a statement to the press at the White House largely aimed at critics of his administration, “because once again we’re seeing what’s possible with strong American diplomacy.”
Obama said talks with Iran had avoided “another war in the Middle East” and had left the US “better placed to address other issues”, such as this week’s capture and brief detention by Iran of 10 US sailors whose two small vessels strayed into Iranian waters.
“That could have sparked a major international incident,” said Obama, who has largely staked his foreign policy legacy on an opening with Iran. “Some folks here in Washington rushed to declare that it was the start of another hostage crisis. Instead, we worked directly with the Iranian government and secured the release of our sailors in less than 24 hours.”
Heralding the achievements of the nuclear deal, Obama cautioned that it did not solve all the issues between the two countries. Though Americans remained imprisoned or missing in the Islamic Republic, he said, “a unique opportunity, a window” had “brought progress on a number of fronts”.
The imprisonment of the Americans in Iran had become a cause célèbre among Republicans, almost all of whom vehemently oppose the nuclear accord.
On Saturday, Republican candidates to succeed Obama in the White House were quick to question the lifting of sanctions and the release of prisoners, as they had been to demand strong action over the capture of the American sailors.
Republicans also voiced concern about the White House’s granting of clemency for six Iranian Americans and one Iranian who were charged with sanctions violations.
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