The US president said the issue, considered a major stumbling block in peace talks, would \u201cjust\u201d make him \u201cfeel better\u201d<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has said recovering Iran\u2019s highly enriched uranium is \u201cmore for public relations\u201d than anything else, downplaying what remains one of the key sticking points in negotiations aimed at ending the Middle East war.
\nFollowing the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran last year, Trump claimed the strikes had \u201cobliterated\u201d Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities and severely limited Tehran\u2019s ability to continue enrichment. However, an estimated 400 kg of uranium enriched to 60% purity \u2013 a short technical step from weapons-grade level \u2013 is believed to be buried beneath the rubble of bombed nuclear sites.
\nIn an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump suggested removing the material was not urgent because the US maintained round-the-clock surveillance over the facilities, but added he would still \u201cfeel better\u201d if the uranium was removed.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
BRICS nations must shatter US \u2018sense of impunity\u2019 \u2013 Iranian FM<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have nine cameras on that site, on those three sites, 24 hours a day. We know exactly what\u2019s happening. Nobody\u2019s even gotten close to it,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s more for public relations than it is for anything else. The other thing we could do is bomb it again, just make it absolute. But I just, I would just feel better getting it.\u201d
\nTrump, who has repeatedly warned he could resume strikes on Iran, also signaled his patience with negotiations is running out.\u00a0\u201cI am not going to be much more patient. They should make a deal,\u201d he said. While active fighting triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February paused under a fragile ceasefire reached in early April, negotiations on a broader peace deal remain deadlocked over Tehran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n
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Iran rebukes US for expecting \u2018letter of surrender\u2019<\/p>\n
The US and Israel, which accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, are demanding \u201czero enrichment\u201d and the removal of all enriched uranium from Iranian soil. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS News this week the conflict could not fully end while the material remained in Iran, calling its removal a \u201cterrifically important mission.\u201d
\nIran insists its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes, arguing that abandoning enrichment would undermine its sovereignty and technological independence. Tehran has repeatedly rejected demands to dismantle the program or surrender its uranium stockpile \u2013 including proposals to store it in Russia \u2013 though it has reportedly offered to downblend it to lower civilian-grade levels. However, Iranian parliamentary spokesman Ebrahim Rezaei warned earlier this week that Tehran could enrich uranium to 90% purity \u2013 considered weapons-grade \u2013 if attacked again.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Gulf states attacked Iraq amid waning faith in US \u2013 Reuters<\/p>\n
Despite accusations of pursuing nuclear weapons, US intelligence agencies assessed before the conflict that Tehran was not actively developing a bomb, according to former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has also said the nuclear watchdog found no evidence of a \u201cstructured program to manufacture nuclear weapons\u201d in Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US president said the issue, considered a major stumbling block in peace talks, would \u201cjust\u201d make him \u201cfeel better\u201d US President Donald Trump has said recovering Iran\u2019s highly enriched…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t