Obama on Daily Show
Obama on Daily ShowReuters

US President Barack Obama went on Comedy Central's Daily Show Tuesday to convince the American public that the deal negotiated with Iran on its nuclear program is a good one.

After the deal goes into force, Obama told host Jon Stewart, the US is "still going to have to work with core allies like Israel, with the Gulf countries, to make sure that Iran is not sponsoring terrorism or destabilizing other countries. But we will have taken off the table what would have been a catastrophic strategic problem if they got a weapon."

"In this situation, we're not giving anything up," he contended. "A president's options 10 years from now, 15 years from now, will be better, because we'll have more insight into what their program is, they will have sent out a whole bunch of enriched material that they have right now. The breakout times will be longer than they are right now. So this is not a situation where we're unilaterally disarming or being taken to the cleaners. What we are doing is making sure that this critical problem is being resolved and recognizing that we're still going to have more work to do."

Republican lawmakers – but some influential Democrats as well – were angry Monday about the Obama administration's decision to have the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) vote on the Iran nuclear deal before Congress has had a chance to accept or reject it.

The unanimous UNSC vote in favor of the Iran Monday deal came just hours after the State Department formally sent the agreement to Congress to be reviewed.

Former prime minister and defense minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday evening that Iran is very likely to come into possession of nuclear bombs within the next decade.

While it is “very difficult” to say whether Iran will have nuclear bombs, he said, “it is definitely very likely that Iran will become a nuclear power in the course of the coming decade, and will follow in the footsteps of North Korea and Pakistan.”

The agreement between the world powers and Iran opens a new page in the Middle East, Barak explained, and indicates that Israel is seen by the US and other powers as marginal, while Iran has gained legitimacy as a regional power.