US President Barack Obama speaking on the Iran nuclear deal: All of Iran's pathways to a nuclear weapon cut off in landmark deal, says Obama. The Iranian nuclear deal is not built on trust, it is built on verification, said the US president. The Iran Deal makes the world a safer place and the US will veto any legislation that is against it, Obama said.

After tortuous talks that spanned 20 months, negotiators reached a landmark deal aimed at reining in Iran's nuclear program. The agreement, a focal point of US President Barack Obama's foreign policy.


The nuclear agreement included a compromise between Washington and Tehran that would allow UN inspectors to press for visits to Iranian military sites as part of their monitoring duties. But access at will to any site would not necessarily be granted and even if so, could be delayed, a condition that critics of the deal are sure to seize on as possibly giving Tehran time to cover any sign of non-compliance with its commitments.


Under the deal, Tehran would have the right to challenge the UN request and an arbitration board composed of Iran and the six world powers that negotiated with it would have to decide on the issue.


Still, such an arrangement would be a notable departure from assertions by top Iranian officials that their country would never allow the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency into such sites.


Iran has argued that such visits by the IAEA would be a cover for spying on its military secrets.