I come here confident that we share the same goal with regard to Iran: to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Thanks to a combination of tough diplomacy and the most comprehensive targeted sanctions regime ever imposed on a country, I am certain that we are closer today to that goal than we were just a few weeks ago.

Over the next few minutes I hope to explain why that is, as well as where we believe we will be heading in the coming months. I will also update you on efforts that have not been part of the P5+1 negotiations but are similarly important: our efforts to hold Iran accountable for its human rights abuses, support for terrorism, and destabilizing activities abroad.

Negotiation Update

We have long recognized that the Iranian nuclear program constitutes one of the most serious threats to U.S. national security and our interests in the Middle East. An Iranian regime armed with nuclear weapons would destabilize the Middle East, put our allies and partners in the region at risk, and undermine the global nonproliferation regime. Fully aware of the seriousness of this challenge, the P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the UK, United States and Germany, coordinated by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton) has engaged over the past months in sustained negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. On November 24, 2013, the P5+1 took an important first step as part of that diplomatic push by agreeing with Iran on a Joint Plan of Action (JPOA). This joint plan is sequenced over the next six months to explicitly block near-term Iranian pathways to a nuclear weapon, while creating space for further negotiations to reach a long-term comprehensive solution.

A little more than two weeks ago, on January 20, 2014, the JPOA went into effect. As the President noted, the implementation of the JPOA marked the first time in a decade that Iran agreed to specific actions that halt progress on its nuclear program and roll it back in key respects. Specifically, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified on January 20 that, among other things, Iran: has stopped producing near-20 percent enriched uranium (UF6); disabled the configuration of the centrifuge cascades that Iran has been using to produce it; begun diluting its existing stockpile of near-20 percent enriched uranium and continued to convert near-20 percent enriched uranium to oxide for fuel plates at a rate consistent with past practices so that it will have eliminated its entire near-20 percent enriched uranium stockpile at the end of six months; had stopped installing additional centrifuges at the Natanz or Fordow facilities; and had not installed additional reactor components at the Arak facility. Moreover, on transparency and monitoring, the IAEA stated that Iran has begun providing some of the information required by the JPOA and is working with the IAEA on arrangements for increased access to its nuclear facilities. In order to carry out its responsibilities under the JPOA, the IAEA will roughly double the size of its inspection team and install additional monitoring equipment. The size of the team and the access afforded under the JPOA mean the international community's insight into Iran's nuclear program will be significantly enhanced.

This was an important first step, and over the next six months, Iran has committed itself to further actions that will provide much more timely warning of a breakout at Iran's declared enrichment facilities and will add new checks against the diversion of equipment and material for any potential covert enrichment program. Some have rightfully asked why we should trust Iran to live up to these commitments. As the President said in his State of the Union speech, these negotiations do not rely on trust; any long-term deal we agree to must be based on verifiable actions and constraints that convince us and the international community that Iran is not building a nuclear bomb.

...