President Obama places odds of reaching nuclear deal with Iran at 'less than 50-50'
US President Barack Obama has put the odds of ironing a nuclear deal with Iran at "less than 50-50," telling Democrats that he will not accept a bad deal just for the sake of having a legacy.
According to a senator who attended a gathering at the White House, Obama again aired a sense of pessimism as brokers of the nuclear talks missed another self-imposed deadline, while his administration attempted to deny allegations that it is desperate for an agreement, Politico reported.
Obama said the chances were less than 50-50 at this point and that he wouldn't agree to something he thought was weak or unenforceable, Sen. Dick Durbin said on Wednesday. "But if he comes up with an agreement and it meets his standards, he wanted us to take an honest look at it and not prejudge."
Obama reportedly asked his fellow Democrats in the Senate to disregard cynics.
"He took us back to what the framework was when the initial agreement was announced in Lausanne," Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said
"He said, 'Don't get nervous, don't get concerned about statements by the supreme leader, about statements in the press. I am not going to sign a deal where we can't assure that we've blocked all pathways to a bomb for Iran.' I found that very reassuring."
On Iran, "he wanted to make it clear to us that if it's a bad deal, there's no deal," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said of the president.
Obama has worked in the past days with Secretary of State John Kerry to refute reports that the President will sign any deal for the sake of legacy.
The President seemed "not at all" troubled with giving lawmakers another two months to consider the deal, said Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin.
Obama's administration has been floored by Iran's refusal in the last minute to give ground on revealing previous military dimensions of the program and their demand to have the caps on missiles lifted, CNN wrote.
"Under no circumstances should we relieve pressure on Iran relative to ballistic missile capabilities and arms trafficking," said Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey.
