In Obama's State of Union Address, a Warning on Iran --- Speech Outlines National-Security Policy Reliant on Diplomatic Influence Backed by Military Strength -- WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama acknowledged Tuesday that talks with Iran over its nuclear program will be difficult and "may not succeed," but said that for the sake of national security, the U.S. must try to negotiate a deal with Tehran. -- In his State of the Union address, Mr. Obama defended the U.S. overture to Iran, his most important foreign-policy push of the year and one of the few new foreign-policy initiatives in a speech heavy on domestic proposals. --- Mr. Obama in the speech also outlined a view of national-security policy that relies on diplomatic influence backed by military strength. He stressed his skepticism of overseas entanglements, in one of his clearest articulations to date on the issue. -- "I will not send our troops into harm's way unless it's truly necessary; nor will I allow our sons and daughters to be mired in open-ended conflicts," Mr. Obama said. "We must fight the battles that need to be fought, not those that terrorists prefer from us—large-scale deployments that drain our strength and may ultimately feed extremism." -- Mr. Obama also said Tuesday he would keep troops in Afghanistan after 2014, if the Afghan government agrees to a bilateral security arrangement. --- In glancing comments, he said the U.S. would continue with its focus on Asia, keep pressuring the Syrian regime over the civil war, and maintain support for democracy proponents in Myanmar, Ukraine and elsewhere. He skipped over political turmoil in Egypt, voiced hope for talks between Israelis and Palestinians and said he would work to restore confidence in U.S. surveillance programs at home and abroad. --- "President Obama is relaxing Iran sanctions at a time when public intelligence predicts Iran will have the means to build and launch a nuclear weapon that could hit the United States by 2015—only a year away," Mr. Inhofe said in a statement. -- Mr. Obama placed the negotiations in a historical context: "If John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan could negotiate with the Soviet Union, then surely a strong and confident America can negotiate with less powerful adversaries today," Mr. Obama said. --- In Afghanistan, the U.S. military has said it would like to see 10,000 U.S. troops remain in place—at least for a short period—after the formal end of combat this year. Military officials have said if Mr. Obama doesn't want to send 10,000, they would advocate drawing troop levels down to zero, saying that fewer troops would be unable to carry out meaningful operations. -- Mr. Obama still could opt for a force smaller than 10,000, although U.S. officials have said they believe the White House understands the military's objections to doing so. -- Military planners also have proposed drawing down any "follow-on force" relatively quickly, potentially leaving only a handful of troops in Afghanistan by the end of Mr. Obama's term. -- Any long-term presence in Afghanistan would require a new bilateral security agreement with Afghanistan, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai so far has refused to sign one. - More, Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal