Barack Obama Quotes

The government of Iran has no problem with the American nation.

In the past there were various suggestions in the framework of financial and other agreements to benefit with Iran. But Iran interpreted those suggestions in a mistaken way and deceived the international community.

Hillary Clinton and John Kerry have left the U.S. with better relations with Iran and Cuba and worse relations with allies like Israel.

The European Union and its member states continue and will continue, as the nuclear deal is implemented, to have open channels with Iran.

When it comes to Iran, we must not accept Obama's inconsistencies and weakness.

It was sanctions that drove Iran to the negotiating table in the first place.

This is one of the worst deals ever made by any country in history. The deal with Iran will lead to nuclear problems.

I do not know anybody that is threatening Iran. It is a safe country.

Iran is the only country around the negotiating table that has not been attacked by either al-Qaida or Daesh.

I had differences of opinion with President Obama and most well-known, of course, is Iran.

You know of our sympathetic interest in this country in Iran's desire to control its natural resources. From this point of view we were happy to see that the British Government has on its part accepted the principle of nationalization.

Who said that think we should normalize relations with Iran tomorrow? I never said that. I think we should move forward as quickly as we can.

Of course we [with Angela Merkel] discussed our commitment to meeting shared security challenges from countering cyber threats to ensuring that Iran continues to live up to the terms of the Iran nuclear deal.

In order to threaten Iran, you [America] say that you can secure the energy flow in the region. You are wrong. Beware that if you make the slightest mistake over Iran, the energy flow through this region will be seriously endangered. You will never be capable of providing energy security in this region. You are not capable and you should know this.

Americans have eliminated Iran's worst enemies, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam [Hussein]. I occasionally threatened my Iranian counterpart in Kabul that one day I would send him a big bill for what we did. But, seriously, Iran is pursuing a dual strategy in Iraq. On the one hand, the Iranians, after decades of hostility, are now interested in good relations. On the other hand, they want to keep the country weak and dominate the region.

General [James] Mattis has said that the deal's in place. We can't unilaterally pull out of it without support from our allies because the sanctions wouldn't bite as deeply. And so he'll find other ways to push back against Iran in the various conflicts that Iran is fomenting around the [Iran] region.

For decades, our differences with Iran meant that our governments almost never spoke to each other. Ultimately, that did not advance America's interests.

As you know, we don't have relationships with Iran. I mean, that's - ever since the late '70s, we have no contacts with them, and we've totally sanctioned them. In other words, there's no sanctions - you can't - we're out of sanctions.

Maybe it's understandable what a history of failures America's foreign policy has been. We are, after all, a country full of people who came to America to get away from foreigners. Any prolonged examination of the U.S. government reveals foreign policy to be America's miniature schnauzer -- a noisy but small and useless part of the national household.

The one thing that you can say about the new Cabinet Donald Trump is putting together. That seems to be one of the coherent themes. They're very, very skeptical about Iran.

Whether we report Iran to the council or not, I believe the only way forward is through diplomacy.

The deal with Iran is so stupid, it's so insanely stupid, that when people vote for me, they know I don't make deals like that. I get our prisoners back, I don't have 24 day inspection periods, I don't have self-inspection where they inspect themselves, I don't give them $150 billion that they can use for terrorism all over the world.

The United States is going to continue to punish Iran because of its defiance.

When our sailors in the Persian Gulf accidentally strayed into Iranian waters, that could have sparked a major international incident. 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.

Please don't suggest that I think we normalize relations with Tehran tomorrow. We don't. But I would like to see us move forward, and hopefully some day that will happen.