US President Barack Obama rejected criticism from Republicans over his handling of Iran's nuclear ambitions. Obama said he had made himself clear since he began running for the presidency that he would take every step available to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The US president also said the Republicans seeking to replace him, including the frontrunner Mitt Romney, were attempting to win backing from the party faithful and secure the nomination by attacking his foreign policy decisions. On January 1, Romney said that Obama had failed in his efforts to get Iran to abandon its suspect nuclear program.