Obama press conference: mortgage relief, Iran and Syria (VIDEO)

In his first full news conference of the year, US President Barack Obama announced new mortgage relief for homeowners and discussed Iran and Syria, among other topics. His aides insisted that it was just a coincidence that this press conference was scheduled for the same day as Republican Super Tuesday voting in 10 states, Fox News reported.

In the first of two new initiatives to help struggling homeowners, the president said, his administration will cut by more than half the refinancing fees that families pay for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. “That's going to save the typical family in that situation an extra $1,000 a year, on top of the savings that they'd also receive from refinancing,” he said.

Obama also announced a new agreement with lenders to review foreclosures for members of the military that had occurred since 2006, the Washington Post reported. Military members and veterans whose homes were wrongly foreclosed on will receive compensation equal to a minimum of $116,785 plus any home equity lost since the foreclosure, according to the Washington Post.

More from GlobalPost: Obama proposes home refinancing assistance program

In response to reporters’ questions, Obama reaffirmed his commitment to using diplomacy to shut down Iran’s efforts to build nuclear weapons, ABC News reported. He said he was focused on influencing Iran through “crippling sanctions” and added that it was not necessary to decide within the next weeks or months whether a military strike was needed, as Israel has been suggesting.

Obama also lashed out at GOP presidential candidates who’ve criticized his go-slow approach. "Those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities. They're not commander in chief. And when I see the casualness with which some of these folks talk about war, I'm reminded of the costs involved in war," Obama said, according to Fox News. "This is not a game. There is nothing casual about it."

The president also said he was not in favor of launching airstrikes in Syria to protect Syrians from Bashar Assad's regime, a step some US senators have called for, Fox News reported. "For us to take military action unilaterally, as someone suggested, or to think that somehow there is some simple solution, I think is a mistake," Obama said, according to Fox News.

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