And there he is, the president of the United States, wrapping up this 47 nation nuclear summit. The president making several points, insisting the world is a little bit more secure right now as a result of this agreement.
He said over the next four years, the goal is to get all nuclear material secure. Easier said than done, but that is the goal.
He also says he wants strong sanctions as quickly as possible against Iran to deal with Iran's nuclear program. He's confident that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, he says, is secure, although more could be done to secure nuclear arsenals, he says, all over the world.
Let's talk about what we just heard from the president.
Queen Noor of Jordan is with us.
She's the co-founder of the group Global Zero, which is working to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Also joining us, our senior political analysts, Gloria Borger and David Gergen -- David, let me just start with you.
What did you think of this accomplishment or lack of accomplishment by this summit?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: This was -- these were important steps forward, Wolf. President Obama deserves significant personal credit for his leadership on this issue. He's the first president who's really picked it up and moved it in this way. And it's one of the most important issues facing the world, as Queen Noor will under -- underscore.
I would say, at the same time, caution is required here, because if -- if Iran gets nuclear weapons, a lot of this will fall apart. We still have the tensions in the Middle East, with nations like Israel and this sort -- its neighbors, including Jordan, over nuclear weapons. And, of course, there's, then, the issue of Pakistan and India.
And the president is going to have to tackle all of those if he's really going to help get, you know, breakthroughs.
But give him credit for how far he's come.
BLITZER: Queen Noor, you've been working on this issue for a long time.
What do you think?
QUEEN NOOR, JORDAN: Well, I absolutely agree with what David just said. And I believe that it's not just the president, but it's the international community that's going to have to address all of these problems simultaneously. It's not just -- this president is showing good leadership and a great deal has been achieved since Prague last year and with the START Treaty signing just now and with this nuclear security summit.
We still have to work on -- on non-proliferation issues and lead toward the elimination of nuclear weapons altogether.
But in terms of addressing those key problem area, like Iran, like Pakistan, like Israel, Pakistan and India, we're going to need the international community to be working with him on this area.
BLITZER: It -- it's one thing, though, Queen Noor, to get states to make commitments. It's another thing for terrorist organizations like al Qaeda, which is apparently attempting to get nuclear material, to make a commitment.
NOOR: I don't think he's talking about that. I think he's -- what -- what we're talking about and what's absolutely vital to the achievement of Global Zero eventually is that we secure nuclear materials today. And there is probably enough out there to make, perhaps, another 200,000 bombs on top of the 23,000 or so that we already have today in the hands of about nine states.
And those -- I was at the U.N. Security Council meeting last fall that President Obama chaired. At that, Mohamed ElBaradei said that in the last year alone, there had been 200 cases of missing materials. This is what they were focusing on at this conference.
BLITZER: He's the former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
NOOR: Absolutely. BLITZER: Gloria, this is a challenge that the president has put forward. In the next four years, he wants all -- and these other nations that signed this document -- all nuclear material secure so that terrorists couldn't get their hands on it.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, and this -- he's not the first president to try this and to propose this and to try and deal with China on it -- on issues like this, as George W. Bush did, particularly regarding sanctions against Iran, which is the big political issue that I'm hearing about from -- from Republicans, who come out of this and say. How much closer are we to actually getting the sanctions out of the U.N. That we need to get against Iran?
And we all watched very closely this week for signals from China in particular, of course, and signals from Russia.
And the read that I'm getting from -- from people in the administration, is that we're -- we're a lot closer, but we're -- we're not there yet.
BLITZER: How worried should the world be about Iran's nuclear program, Queen Noor?
NOOR: I believe that Iran's nuclear program needs to be looked at in the con -- the larger context of the Middle East and -- and certainly Pakistan and India. There are those who -- who would say, look, is there a set of double standards being applied here when you look at Pakistan and India and Israel, that have not signed the NPT and have not opened up their installations and where there is no transparency and they actually have nuclear arsenals and you have a country that I pray -- and Global Zero believes -- there should be no more proliferation, which means no nuclear weapons in Iran, but also there must be elimination of those nuclear arsenals like Israel's and Pakistan's and India's, if we want to diminish the tension in -- in that larger region and sap a great deal of the threat that is presented by these...
BLITZER: But the difference...
NOOR: -- extremist groups we were talking about.
BLITZER: But the difference is that Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
NOOR: Right.
BLITZER: So they're obligated...
NOOR: Isn't is ironic, though?
BLITZER: They're obligated...
NOOR: They're -- they're being held accountable...
BLITZER: -- to cooperate. NOOR: -- for having signed the treaty, they're being held accountable for its requirements, which is just, which is correct. But these other states have not signed the treaty. And there are other...
BLITZER: But in and of itself...
NOOR: -- outliers...
BLITZER: Do you worry about Iran?
NOOR: I worry about the dynamic as a whole in the region, because I see these different situations playing off against each other. I see Iran, Israel, Pakistan, India -- I see all of those countries as absolutely critical to focus on. Focus on their insecurities that have driven them to these programs and help to reduce that and we'll move along.
BLITZER: Gloria, you know, the -- the -- a lot of critics of the president say three rounds, four rounds of sanctions against Iran really have not slowed down their nuclear program...
BORGER: Right.
BLITZER: -- at all. And another round, if -- if it happens, if the U.N. Security Council passes another resolution, even if you get support from Russia, maybe even China...
BORGER: China...
BLITZER: -- might not make much of a difference either.
BORGER: You know, it was interesting just to hear the president a moment ago say we can't impose solutions.
But, in fact, that's what a lot of people want the president to do, right?
they want him to impose these kinds of solutions that -- that he really can't do.
And even if you were to get these sanctions, Wolf, we don't know what the final result of those -- of those sanctions would be.
I mean, would the sanctions have teeth?
How...
NOOR: Who are they going to affect?
BORGER: Who are they going to affect?
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: Who are they going to affect?
So, you know, there's a...
BLITZER: Because even the Russians made the point, they don't want people to starve in Iran if -- if the oil, for example, the -- the refined oil...
BORGER: Exactly.
BLITZER: -- gasoline products are not allowed to go into Iran. That could cause huge ramifications.
NOOR: And you don't want to make a martyr of political leaders and push -- pushing them to the wall and making a martyr of them...
BLITZER: But...
NOOR: -- in front of their nations' populations that -- that are concerned by...
BORGER: And in...
NOOR: -- pride and sovereignty.
BORGER: And inflame anti-U.S. Sentiment.
NOOR: Exactly.
BLITZER: But we're going to have a lot to digest.
Queen Noor, always good to have you here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Thanks for coming in.
NOOR: Thank you very much.