Obama Lobbies for Iran Deal as U.S. Assures on Sanctions

President Barack Obama and his top aides began the job of selling the outline nuclear agreement with Iran in a flurry of calls to lawmakers and assurances that sanctions on the Islamic Republic won’t be lifted anytime soon.

Obama used his weekly address on Saturday to respond to some of the objections from congressional critics of the deal. He said that any relief from economic sanctions will be phased in and that penalties in place over Iran’s support for terrorism, human rights abuses and missile development will remain in force. Verification of Iran’s compliance will be key, he said.