WASHINGTON-President Barack Obama opened the second day of a nuclear-security summit by boasting of the deal world powers reached to stem Iran’s nuclear ambitions, despite new criticism from Congress that his administration is going too easy on Tehran.
 “It will take time for Iran to integrate into the global economy, but Iran is already beginning to see the benefits of this deal,” Mr. Obama said, an apparent response to complaints from Tehran that the deal hadn’t delivered promised economic relief after years of international sanctions.
In remarks Friday at a meeting with officials from the countries that joined the U.S. in negotiating last year’s Iran accord, Mr. Obama called the agreement “a substantial success”.
New questions about the administration’s approach to Iran are overshadowing what the White House hoped would be a victory lap at the summit.
Republicans have called on the White House not to follow through with the plan to give Iran access to dollars, and some Democrats have said doing so would be a mistake if the U.S. didn’t getting something in return.
Congress is also pressing the White House to take more aggressive steps to counter Iran’s ballistic-missile program. Tehran has launched a series of missiles in recent months that the U.S. said were “inconsistent” with a United Nations Security Council resolution. But the UN has taken no punitive steps against Tehran.
The president was quick to reassure critics that agreeing to the nuclear deal and relaxing economic sanctions on Tehran didn’t mean the U.S. is blind to the tensions that remain between the two countries.
“I think it’s important to note that this deal does not resolve all of our differences with Iran, including destabilizing activities in the region,” he said. “Except for limited exceptions, the U.S. trade embargo remains in place. We also continue to vigorously enforce sanctions pertaining to Iran’s support for terrorism, human-rights abuses and ballistic-missile programs.”
More than 50 world leaders attended the Nuclear Security Summit, which began Thursday.
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Source: Associated Press, April 1