President Barack Obama has addressed the slew of rape accusations against the comedian Bill Cosby, at a press conference held to defend the Iran nuclear deal.

Asked if he supported calls for Mr Cosby's Presidential Medal of Freedom should be rescinded the president said, "There's no precedent for revoking a medal. We don't have that mechanism, and as you know, I tend to make it a policy not to comment on the specifics of a case where there might still be criminal if not civil issues involved."

But he added, "I'll say this, if you give a woman or a man for that matter without his or her knowledge, a drug and then have sex with that person without consent, that's rape," Obama said. "And I think this country, any civilised country, should have no tolerance for rape."

Mr Cosby, star of The Cosby Show, celebrated for being one of the first cultural vehicles to depict a black middle class experience in America, has been accused of rape by over 40 women.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest award that can be bestowed in the United States and was awarded to Mr Cosby in 2002.

The accusers, who have allegations about attacks between 1965 and 2008, say Mr Cosby drugged and then assaulted while they were incapacitated.

Earlier this month the Associated Press obtained court records from 2005 civil law suit that had been settled out of cout, that revealed that Mr Cosby had testified that he had obtained the drug Quaaludes, a sedative, to give to women to have sex with them.

Allegations about Mr Cosby have circulated for years, but became more widely known in 2014 when African-American comedian Hannibal Buress raised them during a routine that went viral.

Since then many more women have come forward and there have been increasing calls for Mr Cosby's powerful friends to distance themselves from him.

He has not faced any criminal charges, and most of the allegations pertain to events that took place outside statutes of limitations, but the Los Angeles Police Department has confirmed it has an open investigation into Mr Cosby.

Just last week, one of Mr Cosby's last high-profile defenders, Whoopi Goldberg, abandoned him.

"If this is to be tried in the court of public opinion, I got to say all of the information that's out there kind of points to guilt," she said during a conversation with ABC News Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams.

"I always thought that rape cases were open-ended. What we have learned is, there's no recourse for these women except what they're doing."

"It looks bad, Bill," she said. "Either speak up or shut up."