Obama Says Partisanship Over Iran Nuclear Deal Has Gone Too Far

President Barack Obama said Saturday that partisan wrangling over the emerging nuclear agreement with Iran and on other foreign policy matters has gone beyond the pale, singling out two senior Republican senators for particularly harsh criticism. "It needs to stop," he declared.

Obama complained that Sen. John McCain of Arizona had suggested that Secretary of State John Kerry's explanations of the framework agreement with Iran were "somehow less trustworthy" than those of Iran's supreme leader.

"That's an indication of the degree to which partisanship has crossed all boundaries," an exercised Obama said in a news conference at the end of the two-day Summit of the Americas. "And we're seeing this again and again."

McCain returned the criticism, arguing in a statement that the discrepancies between the U.S. and Iranian versions of the deal extended to inspections, sanctions relief and other key issues. "It is undeniable that the version of the nuclear agreement outlined by the Obama administration is far different from the one described by Iran's supreme leader," McCain said in a statement.

Obama said it was understandable that people would be suspicious of Iran, even that they would oppose the nuclear deal.

"But when you start getting to the point where you are actively communicating that the United States government and our secretary of state is somehow spinning presentations in a negotiation with a foreign power, particularly one you say is your enemy, that's a problem," he said.

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Obama also renewed his complaints about the 47 Republican senators who sent a letter to Iran's leaders saying that any deal the Iranians made with the U.S. wouldn't necessarily hold up after Obama leaves office.

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Of all of it, Obama said: "That's not how we're supposed to run foreign policy regardless of who's president or secretary of state."

Obama said he's still "absolutely positive" that the framework agreement is the best way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. And he added that if the final negotiations don't produce a tough enough agreement, the U.S. can back away from it.

IN-DEPTH

• Poll: Most Americans Don't Trust Iran on Nuclear Deal
• Iran Nuclear Pact: Iran Leader Says Deal Is Not Sure Thing
• Netanyahu on Iran: I'm Trying to Kill a Bad Deal

— The Associated Press