Obama’s Iran Remarks on the Midterm Trail: His Quotes and the Record

Former President Barack Obama has made the Iran war and the 2015 nuclear deal a recurring theme of his midterm campaign stops. He said at rallies in Cleveland and Detroit on Saturday, Oct. 24, that Iran did not have nuclear weapons because of the agreement his administration negotiated, and he returned to the war on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at a rally in Morrow, Georgia. Below are his remarks on Iran, verbatim, followed by a check of his main claims against the public record.

What Obama said about Iran’s nuclear program

Cleveland, Oct. 24 (rally for Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton, as quoted by PolitiFact):

“The original rationale was we’re going to go in there and get them to give up their nuclear program, their nuclear weapons. Now, the thing was, Iran didn’t have nuclear weapons because I had put a deal in place that everybody acknowledges kept them from getting nukes, and I didn’t have to fire a missile to do it. I just had to engage in diplomacy. He pulled out of it, starts this war.”

Some outlets, including Al Jazeera, printed “acknowledged” rather than “acknowledges.”

Detroit, Oct. 24 (rally for Abdul El-Sayed and Jocelyn Benson, per the Rev transcript):

“Now, I want you to think about this Iran war. The original rationale was, well, we’re going to go in there. We’re going to make them bend the knee and give up their nuclear program, their nuclear weapons. Of course, Iran didn’t have nuclear weapons. We had curbed their nuclear program because I put in place a deal that everybody acknowledged had kept them from getting nukes. I didn’t have to fire a missile. I engaged in diplomacy.”

What Obama said about the war, oil and Hormuz

In Cleveland, according to Al Jazeera, Obama said: “The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions,” and “Most importantly, he decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for.”

He continued: “Our allies and our bases have been attacked. Americans have been killed, hundreds of Americans have been wounded. We have run down our stock of missiles, and Iran now has veto power over the Strait of Hormuz where oil goes through to the world market.” He added: “This is the reason why the price of oil is up … This is the reason the price of diesel is up.”

In Detroit, per Rev, he said: “So they’re in a stronger strategic position now than before the war started.”

In Morrow on Wednesday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Obama said that on gas prices “in this case the administration is directly responsible,” for starting an “unnecessary war that nobody asked for and nobody voted for.” Responding to President Donald Trump’s criticism of him, Obama said Trump’s reply “is what I mean when I say these are not serious people. They don’t have solutions to actual problems.”

Fact check: what the record shows

Claim: Iran did not have nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency has not reported that Iran built a nuclear weapon. PolitiFact wrote that Obama’s interpretation of the deal “is shared by many specialists” and that over the 28 months the deal was in effect, the IAEA found no violations other than minor infractions that were addressed.

Claim: “everybody acknowledges” the deal kept Iran from nukes. This is disputed. Trump has called the deal “a road to a nuclear weapon to Iran,” and when he withdrew in 2018 he argued it “allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium and — over time — reach the brink of a nuclear breakout,” as The Independent noted.

Context the remarks leave out: sunset clauses. Under the JCPOA, as summarized in the State Department archive, Iran agreed to cap enrichment at 3.67% and keep its enriched uranium stockpile at 300 kilograms for 15 years, with limits on centrifuges for 10 years. PolitiFact noted that different parts were set to last 10 to 25 years, with some elements permanent, meaning several key limits would have begun expiring between 2026 and 2031.

Context: where Iran’s program stood before the war. After the U.S. exit, PolitiFact noted, Iran reduced its compliance, including with inspectors. The IAEA’s September 2025 report estimated that as of June 13, 2025, Iran held 440.9 kg of uranium enriched up to 60%, far above the deal’s limits, and a total enriched stockpile of 9,874.9 kg. The agency said it could not determine the stockpile’s whereabouts after the June 2025 strikes. On Tuesday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said there was no indication Iran had tried to repair its damaged nuclear sites, AP reported.

Claim: the war raised oil and diesel prices. Al Jazeera reported that a fifth of global oil and gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz before the war and that disruptions there have pushed up energy prices worldwide. How much of any price rise is due to the war versus other factors was not quantified in the sources reviewed.

Trump’s response

At a rally in Perry, Georgia, on Oct. 24, Trump said, as IBTimes reported: “I terminated one of the worst deals ever made: Barack Hussein Obama’s JCPOA, or as more people call it, the Iran nuclear deal, which was a road to a nuclear weapon to Iran.” He added: “We obliterated Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity with Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Epic Fury. We defeated them militarily, financially and otherwise.”

After Obama joked that Trump’s White House renovation looked like “Saddam Hussein opened up a Cheesecake Factory,” Trump told reporters the comment “just shows why you were a lousy president,” the AJC reported.

Where U.S.-Iran talks stand

Vice President JD Vance has sent a letter to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei saying any negotiations “require discussions on the nuclear issue,” a U.S. official told Axios. Separately, Axios reported that Qatar-led mediators are urging Iran to let UN inspectors visit bombed sites in exchange for some sanctions relief. Follow the latest on The Boston Report’s Iran war tracker, our timeline of Obama’s statements on Israel, and today’s geopolitics and business report.

Sources

• PolitiFact: At Ohio rally, Barack Obama says told-you-so on his approach to Iran nuclear policy
• Rev: Obama campaigns in Detroit (transcript)
• Al Jazeera: Obama’s Ohio, Michigan speeches
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Live updates from the Georgia campaign trail
• IAEA: Verification and monitoring in Iran, GOV/2025/50
• U.S. State Department archive: Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

Additional sources

• IBTimes: Obama and Trump clashed on Iran
• The Independent: Obama unloads on Trump over the Iran war
• BBC: Obama attacks Trump as he campaigns for Democrats
• AP: Iran hasn’t tried to repair nuclear facilities, Grossi says
• Axios: Vance letter on nuclear talks
• FOX 5 Atlanta: Obama rallies in Morrow