Speaking at the dedication of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate in Boston, Obama said the negotiators led by Secretary of State John Kerry were "standing up for a principle that Ted and his brother, President Kennedy, believed in so strongly."
"'Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate,'" he said citing a famous line from JFK's inaugural address.
Kerry had served in the Senate with Ted Kennedy as a member of the Massachusetts delegation and is currently in Switzerland negotiating measures to curb Iran's nuclear program.