U.S. President Donald Trump vowed Thursday that the United States would eventually recover Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, despite Tehran’s insistence that it will not hand over the material.
“We will get it. We don't need it, we don't want it. We'll probably destroy it after we get it, but we're not going to let them have it,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Donald Trump vowed that the US would eventually recover Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium
(Video: The White House)
Iran is believed to possess about 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium, which Trump has said was buried by US and Israeli airstrikes nearly a year ago.
Recovering the uranium has become part of Trump’s central objective in the war with Iran: preventing Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Two senior Iranian sources told Reuters that Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a directive barring the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium from being sent abroad.
The comments come as Iran weighs the latest U.S. proposal for a possible deal to end the nearly three-month war, which has driven up global fuel prices and intensified regional tensions. Iranian state media reported that the government is reviewing the American offer.
Trump said he was prepared to wait briefly for Iran’s response.
He told CBS News he was willing to wait “a couple of days” for an Iranian answer, adding that his team was “pretty impressed” by Iran’s negotiators, but that “we have to get the right answers” to prevent a return to war.
Diplomatic efforts are also continuing through regional mediators. Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir, one of the lead mediators in the indirect US-Iran talks, is expected in Tehran on Thursday in an effort to advance negotiations, Iranian media reported.
The uranium issue remains one of the most sensitive obstacles to any deal. Washington wants to ensure that Iran cannot use its enriched material for a nuclear weapon, while Tehran has rejected demands that the stockpile be removed from the country.
Trump’s remarks suggest the United States is not prepared to accept a settlement that leaves the material in Iranian hands, even if a broader ceasefire or peace arrangement is reached.