Obama: Iran Doesn't Have to Recognize Israel for Deal

2015-04-06T212058Z_1_LYNXMPEB350J5_RTROPTP_4_US-IRAN-NUCLEAR
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the framework agreement on Iran's nuclear program announced by negotiators in Switzerland during a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington April 2, 2015. Mike Theiler/Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday poured cold water on an Israeli demand that a nuclear deal between world powers and Iran be predicated on Tehran recognizing Israel.

"The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran recognizing Israel is really akin to saying that we won't sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms," Obama said in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR).

"That is, I think, a fundamental misjudgment," he said.

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