In his State of the Union address, Obama said Tehran was isolated and facing “crippling” sanctions that he said would continue so long as the Islamic Republic keeps its back turned to the international community.
“America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal. But a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible, and far better, and if Iran changes course and meets its obligations, it can rejoin the community of nations,” he said.
Upon taking office in 2009, Obama broke with his Republican predecessor George W. Bush and offered an olive branch to Iran, saying he wanted a new beginning with the country that Bush had labelled part of the “axis of evil.”
But the offer to negotiate has not borne fruit and tensions have continued to escalate over the Iranian nuclear program that Tehran says is for energy purposes and Western nations fear is meant to build a nuclear weapon.
In his speech to Congress, which focused mainly on the US economy, Obama also said he was sure that Syrian leader Bashar Assad “will soon discover that the forces of change can't be reversed” and said the United States would stand against violence and intimidation in the Middle East and beyond.
By contrast, he described the democratic transition in Myanmar, or Burma, as having “lit a new hope” in Asia.
With the address, he also sought to assuage concerns among Jewish voters in the United States about his stance on Israel.
“Our iron-clad commitment - and I mean iron-clad - to Israel's security has meant the closest military cooperation between our two countries in history,” Obama said.
Iran's nuclear program is a major concern for Israel, which has not ruled out a unilateral strike on Iran's nuclear sites.
On the domestic front, Obama challenged American voters to join him to forge a fairer economy and present the bill to the rich.
In a distinctly political State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Obama also skewered Mitt Romney, the multimillionaire Republican venture capitalist he expects to face in November's election.
Obama used his speech to paint himself as the champion of the middle class, by demanding higher taxes for millionaires and tight reins on Wall Street.
He proposed sweeping changes in the tax code and new remedies for the US housing crisis, setting as a central campaign theme a populist call for greater economic fairness.
He mentioned taxes 34 times and jobs 32 times during his hour-long speech, emphasising the two issues at the heart of this year's presidential campaign.
Obama used the speech to revive his call to rewrite the tax code to adopt the so-called “Buffett rule,” named after the billionaire Warren Buffett, who says it is unfair that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. Those making more than $1 million a year would pay an effective tax rate of at least 30 percent and their tax deductions would be eliminated.
Addressing the housing crisis, Obama said he would send to Congress a proposal to allow more Americans to take out new and cheaper mortgages as long as they are current on their payments, savings that would amount to $3,000 per household each year. The depressed housing market continues to drag on the economy.
