President Obama told the General Assembly at the United Nations that the “United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” but warned that time “is not unlimited,” to resolve the issue diplomatically.

 

“America wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy, and we believe there is still time and space to do so,” Obama said. “We respect the right of nations to access peaceful nuclear power,” he added, but Iran “has failed to take the opportunity to demonstrate that its nuclear program is peaceful.”

Iran has repeatedly stated that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only and that it is not interested in obtaining nuclear weapons. The UN nuclear watch-dog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has continuously inspected Iran’s declared nuclear sites, finding again and again that there is no evidence that Iran is diverting any of the nuclear material to any undeclared sites.