President Barack Obama took to the question-and-answer website Quora on Thursday to push for support of the proposed nuclear agreement with Iran, surprising some users that the commander-in-chief was appearing on the site.
Responding to a question asking whether a rejection of the nuclear agreement would be a "vote for war," Obama said, "Diplomacy is not easy, but it is a better choice."
If the U.S. walks away from the deal and the multinational agreement fails, that would increase the chance that a future U.S. president would be left with military action to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, he said.
"We can either prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon through diplomacy, or be left with a form of war. Those are the options," Obama said.
Related: How the House GOP Plans to Regroup on Iran Nuclear Deal
On Thursday, the Senate blocked a resolution of disapproval for the Iran deal. House Republicans have vowed to fight the agreement, and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called it a "bad deal."
The agreement involves limiting Iran's nuclear production for 10 years and Tehran's access to nuclear fuel and equipment for 15 years in return for hundreds of millions of dollars in sanctions relief.
Obama joined Quora in March of 2014. Since then he had answered questions about the Affordable Care Act and weighed in on a question about what it was like to play basketball with the president — "My hair’s getting grayer, but I’d like to think I’ve still got a decent jump shot," he said in March.
On the Thursday, Obama answered questions about Iran, including whether its leaders could be trusted and what about the agreement prevents the regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Related: Senate Democrats Block GOP Efforts to Thwart Iran Deal
Obama said that a nuclear-armed Iran would be a serious threat to global security, and that Iran sponsors terror groups like Hezbollah, has threatened Israel and abuses its own people, and is holding American citizens. "We've remained clear-eyed about the Iranian regime," he said.
"So let me be clear: This agreement is not based on trust. It's based exclusively on unprecedented verification. Never before has a nuclear non-proliferation agreement included such a robust and far-reaching monitoring and transparency regime," Obama said.
"Under this agreement, Iran is prohibited from ever pursuing a nuclear weapon — and we will be in the strongest position ever to make sure that Iran follows through," the president said.
