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And you know, I'm glad that Governor Romney agrees with the steps that we're taking. You know, there have been times, Governor, frankly, during the course of this campaign, where it sounded like you thought that you'd do the some things we did, but you'd say them louder and somehow that that would make a difference, and it turns out that the work involved in setting up these crippling sanctions is painstaking; it's meticulous. We started from the day we got into office.
And the reason it was so important—and this is a testament to how we've restored American credibility and strength around the world—is we had to make sure that all the countries participated, even countries like Russia and China, because if it's just us that are imposing sanctions, we've had sanctions in place for a long time. It's because we got everybody to agree that Iran is seeing so much pressure. And we've got to maintain that pressure.
There is a deal to be had, and that is that they abide by the rules that have already been established; they convince the international community they are not pursuing a nuclear program; there are inspections that are very intrusive. But over time, what they can do is regain credibility. In the meantime, though, we're not going to let up the pressure until we have clear evidence that that takes place.
And one last thing. I'm—just to make this point: The clock is ticking.
We're not going to allow Iran to perpetually engage in negotiations that lead nowhere. And I've been very clear to them, you know, because of the intelligence coordination that we do with a range of countries, including Israel, we have a sense of when they would get breakout capacity, which means that we would not be able to intervene in time to stop their nuclear program, and that clock is ticking.
MR. SCHIEFFER: All right.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: And we're going to make sure that if they do not meet the demands of the international community, then we are going to take all options necessary to make sure they don't have a nuclear weapon.
MR. SCHIEFFER: Governor.
MR. ROMNEY: I think from the very beginning, one of the challenges we've had with Iran is that they have looked at this administration and—and felt that the administration was not as strong as it needed to be. I think they saw weakness where they had expected to find American strength.
And I say that because from the very beginning, the president, in his campaign some four years ago, said he'd meet with all the world's worst actors in his first year. He'd—he'd sit down with Chavez and—and Kim Jong-Il, with Castro and with—with President Ahmadinejad of—of Iran. And—and I think they looked and thought, well, that's an unusual honor to receive from the president of the United States.
