Fight with Republicans

Obama said he would fight Republican obstruction in the Congress "with action," and he would oppose "any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place".

The president was cautioning against a non-cooperative Republican party that locked in bitter battles with the administration during the past year, sparring on issues ranging from debt limit and federal budget to payroll tax holiday extension.

He also proposed that the Congress take steps to bypass its complicated rules as well as make changes to the executive branch. He also asked the Congress to grant him the authority to consolidate federal bureaucracy.

"None of these reforms can happen unless we also lower the temperature in this town," Obama said, adding the United States needs to "end the notion that the two parties must be locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction; that politics is about clinging to rigid ideologies instead of building consensus around common sense ideas."
Stance on Iran

Obama touted the end of Iraq War and killing of al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden in his speech and later vowed to use all options possible to stop Iran's bid for a nuclear weapon, but did not rule out a peaceful resolution.

"Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal," the president said. "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 added.

The United States and its allies are pressuring Iran to engage seriously in talks over its nuclear program, which the West says is a cover for making nuclear weapons, a claim rejected categorically by Iran.